Righteous girl 'rescues' tortoise in the worst possible way

This young woman's heart is in the right place, but her attempt at an animal rescue is just wrong.

A video reportedly recorded on Snapchat shows the American woman holding what she describes as a "turtle", and imploring her audience to save the animals.

She then tosses the reptile into a nearby pond.

The only problem: the so-called turtle is actually a gopher tortoise. Its species dwells on land, and dry-land tortoises can't swim. And that water looks pretty deep. And judging by the ker-plonk when it's chucked in, the tortoise sinks like a stone.

But it definitely would have found a way to survive somehow. Right? Right, guys...?

Identified only on her name badge as Kimberly, the woman's "rescue" went viral after it was posted to Reddit.

Near the end of the video she boasts that "turtle-saving is a hobby" — suggesting that untold numbers of other tortoises may also have fallen victim to her well-intentioned but alarming "hobby".

According to the IUCN Red List, a global tracker of threatened species, gopher tortoises are listed as vulnerable to extinction. And now they're probably a little more vulnerable.

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