Update: Missing ‘Mr. Turtle’ found unharmed!

BAYONNE AND BEYOND — A dry land tortoise native to Africa has been found, after it went missing from the Dennis Collins Park in Bayonne on Aug. 6.
Bayonne Business Administrator Steve Gallo said the city began searching for the 20-year-old pet tortoise that local kids call “Mr. Turtle” after the Hudson Reporter website reported it missing.
Owned for the last 20 years by Tom Cotter, who coaches Bayonne Little League, the tortoise had become a familiar face, often feeding in the high grass near one of the baseball fields at the foot of the Bayonne Bridge.
Gallo said the tortoise was on Port Authority property when the PA was touring the property.
“They didn’t know how a tortoise native to Africa wound up there,” Gallo said. “So they called the Department of Environmental Protection agency.”
According to Port Authority staff, the African Spurred Tortoise (aka Sulcatta Tortoise) was found sitting beneath the Bayonne Bridge. The tortoise was first identified by PA staff members Tom Albach and Robert MacCutcheon on Monday (Aug. 7) and was estimated to be between one and one-half and two feet in length.
After a few phone calls to environmental officials to identify the type of tortoise and assess its general health, the tortoise was gently removed and transported to New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection offices, where it was going to find a permanent home in an area zoo until the city intervened.
Tortoises generally have life spans comparable with those of human beings, and some individuals have lived longer than 150 years.
Gallo said “Mr. Turtle” will be returned to Cotter shortly so the tortoise can continue his role as unofficial mascot for the local teams.