I've a special respect for these slow moving creatures. They are amazing. We had one big and very old fella, Sudama, at our village house. He'd only eat when my granny offered her food. She told us that he was more than 150 years old. We used to doubt her claims as kids but when grew up we came to know she was right. She got married at 9 and died at around 80, so she almost took care of Sudama for about 70 years. After she passed away, Sudama did not eat anything for many days, fell sick and ultimately died. Perhaps tortoises also have that special bonding with us that we have with Dogs and Cats.