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We've all heard stories about cats and dogs that have gotten loose and been lost for years, only to come home some time later or be picked up at a pound miles away. Well there is one story like that that will likely never be topped. It's about a family pet who went missing only to be found 30 years later in the attic, remarkably still alive!
It happened in Rio de Janeiro when Manuela the tortoise went missing. Manuela's family assumed she had vanished while their house was undergoing some electrical work. After mourning their missing pet, they moved on with life and didn't think much about her until three decades later, when the family patriarch passed away. While cleaning out some of his belongings, they went into the attic and there, in an old wooden speaker box, they discovered Manuela, alive and well.
How is this possible you ask? Well tortoises can go between six months and three years without food. They feel Manuela survived by eating termite larva and since there wasn't much water around, she probably got her moisture intake from the young insects as well. If that weren't enough of a surprise, more recently they took Manuela for a check-up and found out she is actually male. Manuel, as he is now known, is still healthy, though gets to eat and drink more often.
No word on his exact age but tortoises can live to be 255 years old.