Escaped tortoise rescued on Arizona highway

A large tortoise that had escaped from an ostrich ranch was saved from a potentially fatal encounter after it was recovered alongside a busy Arizona highway.

A Department of Public Safety trooper, with the help of another motorist, rescued the creature as it was inching its way across Interstate 10.

The motorist contacted authorities after it spotted the sulcata tortoise on the interstate in Pinal County, a hot and barren patch of desert between Phoenix and Tucson.

The daring tortoise managed to travel roughly three miles before it was found and safely returned.

Hand-written on top of the tortoise's shell in fading blank ink was the name "Stitch", which prompted troopers to contact the Rooster Cogburn Ostrich Ranch roughly three miles away, according to Arizona's Department of Public Safety.

The ranch confirmed Stitch was one of their tortoises and had recently escaped.

"They were very thankful to have him back safe," the Arizona Department of Public Safety wrote on X, formerly Twitter.