Missing tortoise reunited with owner thanks to social media

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. -- When Mary Schul woke up on Tuesday morning, she realized that her 80-pound African spurred tortoise named Zulu, that she has had for 18 years, had managed to escape from his enclosure, reports CBS Miami.

"When he gets his mind going and he wants to leave, he just goes. And he got out of his cage again," Schul told CBS Miami.

While Schul searched for Zulu, Shelley Daley was dropping her child off at a babysitter's house in Hollywood, Florida.

That's when she spotted the tortoise.

"I thought it was an ornament, which I knew was kind of out of place," Daley said to CBS Miami. "When I looked at it, it looked at us, and I was like, 'No, it's real.' I was like, 'What we going to do with it?'"

Daley took Zulu home with her and called police to try and figure out what to do next.

Police suggested that Daley use social media. And it proved to be a good suggestion. Daley posted a photo of Officer Edgar Gallardo alongside Zulu on Twitter.

Within an hour, Schul was notified by a Facebook friend that the tortoise had been found safe.

"I've been doing this job over 20 years, and this a pretty unique call," Gallardo said. "I don't think I've ever, (I've had) missing kids, all that stuff, but missing tortoise? My goal was to try to find the owner."

Schul is thankful.

"So happy I started crying," she told CBS Miami. "You know, it's part of the family. We don't want to get rid of him. They can be a pain, but he's cool, he's really a cool animal."

Zulu managed to travel about a half a mile from his home before he was found.

Daley told CBS Miami she would have kept the tortoise had the owner not come forward. She said she was glad she worked with police to track Schul down.