Meet Halesowen College’s tiny new pancake tortoise who's a hit with students
Meet Blini the pancake tortoise – Halesowen College’s tiny new arrival.
The college's animal care unit has welcomed the minuscule creature and students are monitoring her development.
Pancake tortoises are a critically endangered species found across Kenya; Tanzania and Zambia.
Their main threats include habitat loss for farming and developments, and climate change.
Pancake tortoises have a very different appearance to other tortoise species, in that their shells grow with very little height.
The bones that form the shell are not as rigid as those in other species.
These result in the shell being a lot softer and lighter, meaning they are more agile and are even able to scale and wedge themselves within rock piles.
Maia Clay, level three animal care student, is monitoring Blini’s progression including weight, shell length, width and height, to help understand the development of the species.
Joe Cooke, animal care unit manager, said: “We are really pleased to welcome Blini to our animal care family.
"The students have really taken to her and are really keen to get involved to monitor her development.”
