KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Pedestrians along 63rd Street in the Brookside neighborhood of Kansas City walk by many attractions, from cozy cafes to boutique gift shops. But one must-see sight along this busy road is a large pet tortoise named Tyrion, who calls a spacious fenced yard at Oak and 63rd streets home.
“He’s famous in the neighborhood,” said tortoise owner Bill Kalahurka. “It seems like I’m always meeting a new stranger. They’ll just come and ask a bunch of questions about him.”
The Kalahurkas adopted Tyrion from a reptile show as a hatchling, back when his shell was no bigger than a softball. Baby pictures show him lounging in a small tupperware container, his owner’s hand looking huge by comparison. Now, the tortoise weighs around 70 pounds and sports a shell nearly 2 feet long, turning heads in passing cars and delighting visitors of all ages.
‘Game of Thrones’ and dandelions
Among the most common questions Kalahurka gets from passersby are the tortoise’s age, favorite snacks and how old he is likely to get. He told The Star that while Tyrion is 7 years old now, his veterinarian estimates he could live to be as old as 120.
Kalahurka wonders whether the tortoise’s “Game of Thrones” name, already a bit dated in 2022, will inspire curiosity decades from now.
“It’s related to the time he was born,” he said of the name. “If somebody 75 years from now asks where did the name come from, you [could say] a long time ago, it was the most popular TV show for a short period of time.”
Tyrion is an African spurred tortoise, a large species that gets its name from the rough spikes on its forearms. While he mainly eats grass, Tyrion’s favorite snacks include cucumber, cantelope, strawberries and lettuce. He is partial to romaine, but eschews the taste of spinach and kale. But his most prized treat is dandelion flowers.
“Their favorite food is dandelions, that’s more than any other food,” said Kalahurka. “They will stop everything if you give them a pile of dandelions. They’ll just go at it.” He added that during peak dandelion season, neighbors are welcome to stop by the yard and toss some of the freshly-picked flowers into Tyrion’s enclosure.
Not too hot for Tyrion
While Tyrion is loved by the community year-round, he isn’t always visible in the Kalahurkas’ front yard. During the winter months, his owners move him into a basement enclosure where he can keep warm during this low-energy season.
“During the winter, if I’m out, people will ask me when the tortoise is coming back,” Kalahurka said. “So there’s definitely some familiarity. There’s definitely a tortoise off-season.”
A popular Reddit post from 2019 showed the tortoise back outdoors after his winter hiatus, along with a large sign reading, “Tyrion the Brookside Tortoise wishes you a Happy Spring!” While the sign hasn’t been displayed in recent years, neighbors see the return of the iconic reptile as a harbinger of the warmer seasons.
While cold temperatures below around 55° F don’t agree with him, Tyrion’s species is built to handle the heat of sub-Saharan Africa. In the hottest months of the summer, he often relaxes in one of his two wooden huts or takes a dip in his enclosure’s shallow pool to cool off. His owners also add water-rich treats like cucumbers and melon to his diet to prevent dehydration.
Wait—there are two tortoises?
While Tyrion enjoys his status as a minor local celebrity, he isn’t the Kalahurkas’ only shelled reptile. Another African spurred tortoise named Tywin lives in a large enclosure in the family’s backyard.
Tywin is an older, less active tortoise estimated to be in his mid-20s. The Kalahurkas adopted him in 2019 from an acquaintance who was moving and couldn’t bring him along. Tywin enjoys lounging in his large burrow and snacking on fresh produce.
Kalahurka has plans to expand Tywin’s enclosure so he can roam into the front yard as well– but the two tortoises don’t get along well enough to share a space.
“It’s very common that male tortoises will not get along,” he said. “I haven’t actually put them together for a couple of years… they just butt heads. They’ll try to snap at each other a little bit. [And] there’s two prongs that are under the neck, [they’ll] try to lock those into each other.”
He added that the tortoises’ contentious relationship mimics that of their namesake characters from “Game of Thrones.”
Will the tortoises outlive their family?
Both Tyrion and Tywin could live as long as another hundred years. Given their extremely long lifespans, many tortoises end up in their owners’ wills to ensure they will be passed on to loving homes. Kalahurka hasn’t thought that far ahead yet.
“Everybody makes the comment about putting the tortoise in the will,” he said with a laugh. “I have the same answer: I don’t know, maybe I should think about that.”
While he doesn’t have immediate plans to adopt another tortoise, Kalahurka didn’t take the option off the table.
“If I could be guaranteed that all my tortoises were going to get along and live with each other, I would just make one big huge enclosure and let them all hang out,” he said.
Until then, visitors can continue to stop by the family’s corner in Brookside and admire Tyrion over their white picket fence.
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