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Tortoises Help Encourage A Slow Pace Of Life Says Young Woman Owner

A young girl has a goal to work with tortoise species and help them with breeding in order to save critically endangered species.

Emily Heinz is a student at the University of Oregon Lindquist College of Business in Eugene, Oregon in the United States.

She will be graduating with a bachelor of science in entrepreneurship, but her love for animals has inspired her with another mission.

@emily.heinz_/Clipzilla

Emily has plans to save critically endangered species of tortoises by captive breeding to help boost the numbers.

She told Clipzilla: “Once I graduate I plan to work on breeding tortoises to save critically endangered species.”

She did not come up with this mission on her own. Emily added: “My dad helped me find inspiration.”

@emily.heinz_/Clipzilla

Her love for tortoises began when she received a tortoise as a pet when she finished 5th grade.

Emily explained: “It was a Russian tortoise (Agrionemys horsfieldii) which I named Carl. That sparked my love for these beautiful creatures because they help teach me to slow down in my fast-paced life.”

She currently has four tortoises named Leo, Lucy, Lily, and Tobi.

@emily.heinz_/Clipzilla

There is a video of her tortoise Tobi standing in a clear plastic container. Emily joked: “If he’s moving fast he’s stressed.”

Tobi is an Aldabra tortoise (Aldabrachelys gigantea) from the islands of the Aldabra Atoll in the Indian Ocean.

Emily pointed out that although it is turtles that swim and tortoises that walk on land, turtles can also walk on land and taught as his can survive in the water adding however that they “mainly float since Aldabras are from islands, kind of like coconuts bobbing to other islands.”

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