A 100-year-old alligator snapping turtle named Thanos has disappeared after he and his owner were traveling on an interstate in North Carolina.
Thanos is a century-old turtle with a weight of 140-180 pounds and a 38-inch length.
The turtle was on his way with Dan Hemby to the Durham Reptile Expo, travelling down Interstate 40 in Durham, when Mr. Hemby noticed something was wrong.
“We weren’t even maybe 30 minutes away from the convention centre, and we get there … first thing I see is all three straps were popped open and moved to the side and the grates were moved over,” Mr Hemby told ABC11.
Mr Hemby was travelling from Jacksonville en route to the expo convention centre and believes that Thanos could have possibly been taken at a rest stop just outside of Benson, where he last checked on the turtle.
He told the outlet that Thanos was strapped in well in a secure container, so he couldn’t have bitten or strong-armed his way out, and has theorised that “somebody messed with him, I honestly don’t know what to think”.
“It’s almost like losing a piece of myself, to be honest with you,” he said to ABC11.
Mr. Hemby even went to check for blood marks on the highway, but did not appear to see any. He explained that if Thanos did fall, he probably would get scraped up.
He added that the first thing Thanos would do is “go for water”.
“If you see him, please let us know. Be careful. Do not handle him,” Mr Hemby said to the outlet.
“He couldn’t go out as far as regular turtles or regular common snappers. If somebody stole him, please just get him home or just make sure he’s safe.”
Alligator snapping turtles are a freshwater species found in the United States, according to the National Wildlife Federation.
They add that while these turtles are not known to attack people, their bite force is so powerful it can snap through bone, so they should not be handled in the wild.
Last month, an alligator snapping turtle bizarrely turned up in Cumbria, United Kingdom, despite being usually found in southern US states.
The turtle, named Fluffy, was spotted in a small lake on the edge of a village and was taken by local vets who planned to transport him to a specialist reptile centre.
Hemby was planning to take Thanos to the event when he noticed something was not right. The man told WTVD that he noticed the straps in the car were popped open and moved to the side, explaining Thanos may have been taken at a rest stop, where he last checked on him.
The owner also checked for blood stains on the highway but didn’t find any.
According to Hemby, if Thanos suffered any scrapes while falling, the animal would be able to survive if he landed on the front side of his body.
State wildlife officials told WTVD that Thanos may be able to survive a fall and access water in a river, noting that snapping alligator turtles are primarily aquatic species.
The National Wildlife Federation notes that the alligator snapping turtle is the largest species of freshwater turtle and is found exclusively in the U.S. and is primarily an aquatic animal that never comes on land, with their preferred habitats being river systems, lakes, and wetlands.
