Turtle Divorce: Giant Turtles Divorce After 115 Years Together

After an impressive 115 years together, two giant turtles at an Austrian zoo are refusing to share their cage anymore, the Austrian Times reported Friday.

"We get the feeling they can't stand the sight of each other anymore," said Helga Happ, director of the Klagenfurt-based zoo, where the turtles -- Bibi, the female and Poldi, the male -- have lived for the last 36 years. Before that, they called Basel Zoo in Switzerland home.

According to the paper, zoo staff realized something was amiss when Bibi bit off a chunk of her partner's shell. When the attacks continued, Poldi was moved to another cage.

Animal experts even attempted couples' counseling -- feeding the turtles aphrodisiacs and encouraging them to play games together. But so far, efforts have failed to bring the shelled lovers back together.

Turtles aren't the only members of the animal kingdom known to "divorce" their partners. Studies have shown that some birds who mated successfully with a partner one year have "divorced" and moved on with another partner in successive years.

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