Oklahoman Shows Off African Sulcata Tortoise

You know how stories sometimes get bigger with the telling until they reach almost legendary proportions; well one man said his pet turtle is so big he walks it on a leash.

That may be an exaggeration, but John Kovarik said his African Sulcata Tortoise could end up weighing well over 100 pounds.

Kovarik said his tortoise, Mighty Might, just had his ninth birthday and will grow between 30 and 36 inches in diameter and could live to be 150 years old.

"He hatched out in May of 2005, I got him in June of 2005, he was the size of a golf ball," Kovarik said.

When Kovarik brought him to the station, I understood how he could get that big, Mighty Might is an eating machine. He doesn't have teeth, but ridge of hard bone and cartilage gets the job done.

Kovarik said Mighty Might isn't the only tortoise he has. There are five that stay with him because they were captive bred, and he has three rescues that need to go back in the wild.

He recommends releasing rescued turtles out in the country where they'll have a better chance at survival.