Why do giant tortoises feed on cacti?

The cactus thinks that its body can store water, the leaf thorns can defend itself, and it can prosper in the desert. Who knew that as soon as the wind blew, the moving sand dunes were completely submerged. In desperation, it moved to an inaccessible island, and who knew that life on the island would not be easy.

Even tortoises began to eat cacti

Because it usually accumulates a lot of food in its body, it will not starve to death if it does not eat or drink for a long time. It has a very long lifespan, it can live for three or four hundred years.

It is possible that the cactus has nutrients that the tortoise needs, so it feeds on the cactus.

Because of the influence of the living environment and physiological structure, you can only survive by feeding on cacti.

Locals often release water from the tortoise's bladder to drink when they are short of water.

It's all about survival, and it's a last resort.

Because there are a lot of nutrients in cacti that giant tortoises need.

Cacti have nutrients that elephant tortoises need.

Let's start with the origin of the name "tortoise".

More than 400 years ago, the colonists from Spain sailed all the way to the equator, found an isolated island, they landed on the island, and found that the main "inhabitant" of the island is a huge tortoise, the weight of this tortoise is more than 500 catties, and the shell alone is meters long, and the limbs look very thick, like the legs of an elephant, so the Spaniards who found them called this tortoise "tortoise".

Let's talk about cacti.

Cacti are native to the east coast of Mexico, the southern and southeastern coasts of the United States, the West Indies, Bermuda, and northern South America; It also grows in the Canary Islands, India, and eastern Australia; Introduced in China at the end of the Ming Dynasty, it is commonly cultivated in the southern coastal areas, and there are a large number of wild cacti in the coastal areas of Guangdong, southern Guangxi and Hainan.

There are plenty of cacti on the islands and coasts, and the cactus fruit and cactus leaves of the cactus are actually edible.

Cactus berries are classified as food today because they are low in calories, high in fiber, rich in vitamin C, and contain calcium and antioxidant compounds. Consuming these antioxidant-rich foods may help reduce the risk of cancer, heart disease, eye diseases such as cataracts, and neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer's.

Cactus leaves are also a food worth eating, it is good for vitamins A and C** and provides a good amount of manganese, magnesium, calcium, and potassium. It's also excellent dietary fiber** while being extremely low in calories and carbohydrates.

As a land tortoise, the tortoise can only drink fresh water, but they live on an island surrounded by the sea, so the dark green vegetation of the island has become an important food for the tortoise to sustain itself.

The cactus fruit and cactus leaves on the island are rich in nutrients and water that are excellent food for tortoises, including carbohydrates that provide the source of life and various nutrients that prolong life, which are also foods that tortoises have to like to eat in order to live. Without this food, tortoises would have to crawl for kilometers in search of fresh water, or may not find it at all.

That's why tortoises are so fond of eating dark green plants, especially fresh fruits and cacti, which is why tortoises have evolved to choose more.

The longest-lived "turtle giant" has appeared! He likes to eat cacti and weighs more than 500 pounds.

Because tortoises usually don't drink water directly, they can only rely on the water in the cactus to replenish their body's needs. And cacti are also very nutritious.

Because cacti are rich in nutrients, the growth of target turtles is very favorable, so tortoises like to eat cacti so much.

Because the best plant in the environment where the tortoise lives is the cactus, and the cactus contains the nutrients that the tortoise needs. Therefore they like to eat cacti.

The evolution of a species can form a "habit", and this "habit" will become a symbol of their group, probably due to the lack of food in a certain era, causing their ancestors to start eating cacti and slowly adapt, and they are also afraid, but if there is other food, they will not eat it.

The cactus that everyone avoids, why do camels like to eat it very much, aren't they afraid of pricking their mouths?