Missing pet turtle found in attic for 30 years – and it’s somehow still alive

A tortoise that went missing in 1982 has been found 30 years later – alive and well in the family’s attic.

Manuela belonged to Nathalye De Almedia’s mother in the early 1980s, who had heard about the mysterious creature but was told he disappeared when his mother was 8 years old.

The family believe he went missing while doing electrical work on the house.

But three years later, after the woman’s husband died, the family came to pick up his belongings.

While sorting out the attic, they were shocked to find something in a box with an old wooden speaker inside.

“We were shocked!” Almeida told The Dodo in 2013.

“My mom came crying because she didn’t believe it – they found Manuela!”

Despite the difficulties, the animal managed to find a way to survive being locked in a storage box for more than three decades.

It is thought she survived by eating termite larvae, which were also found in the room.

However, nearly 10 years later, in an update to the story, it turns out that Manuela is still alive — but is now known as Manuel after a routine veterinary check-up this year revealed that the brave turtle was in fact is male.

A turtle can actually live to be 255 years old and can live about three years without food and water.

The current record holder for the world’s oldest tortoise is Jonathan, a Seychelles giant tortoise currently living on the island of St. Helena in the South Atlantic.

At the age of 180, he first arrived on the island in 1882 as a gift to Sir William Grey-Wilson, who later became Governor of the island.

However, his veterinarian Joe Hollins said in March: “Honestly, I suspect he’s older, but we’ll never know.”

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