Renegade turtle reaches two-week mark, reward now offered

Anyone who can round up a fugitive turtle is being offered a cash reward by Yellowknife’s animal shelter.

The NWT SCPA said this week it would pay $200 to any local bounty hunter able to trace the turtle, which has now evaded capture for two weeks.

The animal escaped from a plastic bin at the shelter while sunbathing earlier in August. Its brother remains at the SCPA.

A close encounter with the turtle last Friday raised hopes the turtle would be found, but – despite at least one other reported sighting – people combing the trails next to Deh Cho Boulevard have come up empty-handed.

“No sign at all,” said Yellowknife resident Lise Leger after a two-hour hunt for the turtle earlier this week.

“I just feel bad for the little guy. He’s going to be cold. He should be back to the SPCA and warm.”

Overnight temperatures are forecast to hover around 8C for the next week, which should not threaten the turtle’s health, though every day in the wild increases its risk of departing its mortal coil at the hands of predators.