NORTH PORT, Fla. — A community wide search in North Port led to the safe return of a missing African spurred tortoise named Ninja, who escaped his outdoor enclosure on Sunday.

Almost all the surviving tortoises have now been moved to elevated enclosures by staff and volunteers with Turtle Survival Alliance Madagascar. But prolonged exposure to the wet, cold floodwaters ...

Yards should be escape-proof to allow for the tortoise to exercise and roam freely. Hatchlings are also kept outdoors but in a predator-protected enclosure with only small areas for sun.