Endangered tortoise operated on

The operation on the animal at the zoo took an hour

An African pancake tortoise has had an operation to remove a bladder stone the size of a small egg which could have proved fatal.

Vets at Bristol Zoo performed the hour-long operation on Polly the pancake tortoise.

The vets had to cut away a hole in the bottom of Polly's shell.

The stone weighed 19g and measured 3.7cm (1.5 inches) by 3cm (1.2 inches). Polly is just 14cm (5.5 inches) long from head to tail.

Vulnerable species

The five-year old tortoise is now "recovering well" in the zoo's Reptile House.

Sharon Redrobe, head of veterinary services, said: "We x-rayed the tortoise as part of a standard health check, and were amazed when we saw the size of the bladder stone.

"Anaesthetising a tortoise is quite tricky and requires specialist training, but she is likely to have been in some discomfort so we took the decision to remove the stone as soon as possible."

African pancake tortoises are classed as a vulnerable species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.

Several have been hatched successfully in Bristol Zoo's incubators.