Tortoises

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? 1 for the road: Four Critically Endangered Galapagos Tortoises

Photo: Matt Rourke/AP Mommy — a Galapagos tortoise at the Philadelphia Zoo who's estimated to be about 100 years old — recently gave birth to four baby tortoises. The babies hatched earlier this year and made their public debut yesterday — on the 93rd anniversary of Mommy's arrival in Philadelphia. One of four Galapagos tortoise hatchlings makes its debut at the Philadelphia Zoo yesterday. Photo: Matt Rourke/AP 1-min. YouTube ... Read the announcement.

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This photo provided by the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance shows Gramma eating a banana stalk in 2023. (San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance via AP)

Gramma the Galapagos tortoise, oldest resident of San Diego Zoo, dies at about 141

After more than a century of munching on her favorite foods of romaine lettuce and cactus fruit, beloved Galapagos tortoise Gramma, the oldest resident of the San Diego Zoo, has died. It’s not clear exactly when the tortoise arrived in San Diego, but zoo officials said she came from the Bronx Zoo in either 1928 or 1931.

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Giant Tortoises Return

Giant tortoises were released on Ecuador’s Floreana Island in the Galápagos archipelago Friday. Their arrival is part of a phased attempt to repopulate the volcanic landmass with an extinct species. Floreana was once home to around 20,000 tortoises of the species Chelonoidis niger. The island's subspecies went extinct in the 1840s as a result of human activity, including hunting. In 2000, researchers discovered tortoises on a nearby island with saddleback shells—a feature associated with Floreana tortoises. It turns out, these tortoises with hybrid lineages of the extinct native species. Scientists began selectively breeding the tortoises, and last week released 158 on the island, each carrying between 40% and 80% of DNA from the Floreana lineage. In all, 700 tortoises will be released as they grow old enough to survive, between 8 and 13 years old.  Charles Darwin was among the last people to see the tortoises, visiting Floreana in 1835. Read more here.