by BERNARD CHIKETO
TORTOISES may be slow but they are masters of survival. A mature one is undeniably a veteran of it.
One such tortoise has vanished from its enclosure at the Cecil Kop Game Park, prompting a desperate, no-questions-asked appeal from the local Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA).
The SPCA in Manicaland has offered a $100 reward for the return of the tortoise, which it describes as “very mature.”
It is every local conservationist and animal lover’s prayer that this female tortoise which probably survived both predation and the epidemic of veld fires that plague Zimbabwe annually will make it through its current ordeal.
The animal had already survived one form of captivity—life in a crate—before being rescued by the SPCA and later transferred to the game park by the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (Zimparks) for a more natural existence.
Jane Clegg, of the SPCA, lamented the theft of the creature, which she described as big, beautiful, and personable enough to greet its keepers with grunting sounds.
The move to Cecil Kop was intended to provide more space, but it appears to have exposed the animal to a new, more sinister threat.
“Zimparks felt it was too confined at our place, but at least it was safe there,” Ms. Clegg told The Explorer. “Now we fear that if it is not found, it might be used for muti.”
The reference to muti—a term for traditional medicine, sometimes involving the use of animal parts believed to hold spiritual power—underscores a growing concern for wildlife in the region.
While the trade in exotic skins and ivory is well-documented, the use of reptiles in occult practices, or juju, remains a persistent, if shadowy, threat.
The theft appears opportunistic. The tortoise was taken from an old snake pit that had been repurposed as a rescue pen. The SPCA is now appealing to a different kind of instinct: the need for cash.
“The reward is modest,” Clegg acknowledged, “but we hope someone might need the money enough to give us a lead.”
For now, the animal’s fate is unknown. Whether it is in a private collection, or destined for a ghastly purpose, its disappearance is a slow-motion tragedy.
In a country where wildlife is both a national treasure and, occasionally, a commodity, the SPCA is racing against time to ensure this particular shell does not become just another ingredient in the supernatural economy.
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