Smoking turtle can't kick his nicotine habit

The pond-dwelling pet got hooked after finishing off cigarette butts its owner tossed into his garden – and now gets upset if it doesn’t get half a pack a day.

Chinese owner Li Yun said: “Whenever I smoke it lifts its head out of the water and stares.”

“If I don’t let it smoke, it swims around crazily, scratching the sides of its little pond. It won’t stop until I give it a cigarette and it bites the butt – you can see the tip glowing.”



“Within four minutes the cigarette’s gone.”

A local animal protection society says it wants to have words with Li at Kouqian, China.

A spokesman said: “If the turtle smokes voluntarily “there is little we can do – but we want him to stop making it public.”