Race against time to find Bonnie the 2st tortoise

The owner of a tortoise is appealing for help to find the animal after it went missing.

The 25-year-old, named Bonnie, disappeared from its pen on Grove Road in Sutton on Sea, Lincolnshire, on Tuesday.

Owner Liz Curnock said she was "very, very worried" for the the 2st (13kg) leopard tortoise, which is 16-inch (40cm) long, and thinks she may have escaped through an unsecured gate.

"I just want her home," she said. "I just hope she's being kept extremely warm and eating the correct foods."

Ms Curnock said the tortoise has been a big part of her life and needs certain foods and sufficient heat.

She added: "I hope she's being looked after correctly and not being treated like another breed of tortoise.

"She has special requirements due to her breed."

Lisa Dean, head animal welfare officer at Beauty's Legacy, which works to reunite owners with lost animals, said Bonnie "would not survive long in these temperatures" but said there was a chance she hadn't travelled too far.

"She needs specialist care. She's not a hibernating breed, so she's out all year round and needs heat lamps and UV lights," she said.

"These leopard tortoises do move faster than the standard tortoise, but they are still quite slow."

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