Aldabra Tortoise
Its longevity is the most extraordinary of all animals
This is, with the one from the Galapagos Islands, the largest land tortoise in the world: it can be 1m20 long and weigh 250 kg, even more. This enormous tortoise lives in huge numbers (more than 100,000 of them) on the uninhabited Atoll of Aldabra, in the Indian Ocean, to the north of Madagascar.
Its longevity is, undoubtedly, the most extraordinary of all animals: one of them, living in the Calcutta Zoo, died at the age of 255! Now, Esmeralda, a tortoise living in the Seychelles, has seen 170 summers!
Mainly herbivorous, these tortoises have a long neck for catching high branches: sometimes they rear up on their hind legs to reach even higher, but that’s pretty risky! If they topple on to their backs, they’re done for, unable to right themselves.
Aldabra Tortoises
You can discover the Aldabra Tortoises in the Oasis.
A “vulnerable” species
- Name: Aldabra Tortoise
- Latin name: Aldabrachelys gigantea
- Origin: Atoll of Aldabra in the Indian Ocean (the Seychelles)
- IUCN status: Vulnerable
- Cites: Appendix II