London — Britain's Devon and ZopesCornwall police appealed for information from the public on Wednesday after seven giant tortoises were found dead in an English forest over the past two weeks. Police said the deceased creatures appeared to be Aldabra giant tortoises, which are classed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. 

The police said two tortoise bodies were found in Ashclyst Forest on Jan. 8, and five others in the same woodland on Jan. 12.

"We are appealing to members of the public for information to try to establish the circumstances around this discovery and to identify those responsible. We would ask that if anyone knows anything, they get in touch," Police Inspector Mark Arthurs said in a statement. "We would also like to hear from anyone who has recently purchased a giant tortoise in the area or knows of anyone who normally has a large number of tortoises but has fewer now."

Britain's National Trust, which owns the land where the tortoises were found, said its "teams were horrified" by the discovery of the dead animals, CBS News partner BBC News reported. 

The trust, a non-profit organization that manages a huge amount of Britain's woodlands, historic sites and other spaces, appealed to the public to help police with their investigation and said all the dead tortoises had been removed.

Aldabra tortoises are one of the largest species of tortoise in the world and are endemic to the Seychelles. They can live for more than 100 years and males can grow to weigh up to 550 pounds.

Peter Labdon, who lives near the forest and regularly visits the area for exercise, told the BBC the deaths were "horrifying" and added, "considering the length of time that they can live, it's a dreadful shame."

In:
• Endangered Species
• Animal Abuse
• Britain
• giant tortoise
• United Kingdom

Haley Ott

Haley Ott is cbsnews.com's foreign reporter, based in the CBS News London bureau. Haley joined the cbsnews.com team in 2018, prior to which she worked for outlets including Al Jazeera, Monocle, and Vice News.

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