Galapagos Tortoise

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

The Seychelles giant tortoise was hunted in vast numbers by European sailors, and by around 1840 it was presumed to be extinct, along with the Arnold's giant tortoise. Though it was generally assumed that the Aldabra giant tortoise was the only one to have survived over-exploitation in the Seychelles, it has been occasionally suggested, most recently in 1995, that some Seychelles granitic island tortoises survived in captivity. The report of oddly shaped captive tortoises prompted the Nature Protection Trust of Seychelles to examine the identity of the living tortoises. Examination of museum specimens of the 'extinct' Seychelles subspecies by Dr. Justin Gerlach and Laura Canning confirmed that some living tortoises exhibited characteristics of the supposedly extinct subspecies. With DNA testing, tortoises of the 'extinct' subspecies were identified and acquired by the Nature Protection Trust of Seychelles for conservation. They were brought to Silhouette Island and a captive-breeding program was initiated in 1997. For several years, the female tortoises produced infertile eggs. In November 2002, eggs laid by a young female started to hatch. By the time the Nature Protection Trust of Seychelles was evicted, it had produced 40 juveniles of the Seychelles giant tortoise.

In Their Own Story

The decision of the Islands Development Company to evict the Nature Protection Trust of Seychelles from Silhouette island by March 2011, and its refusal to permit wild tortoises to live on the island, forced the trust to remove and find new homes for the tortoises. The privately managed island of Cousine agreed to provide a new home for the Seychelles tortoises. In April 2011, the Seychelles giant tortoises went to Cousine. If had been possible to release them on Silhouette island, they would have established a separate wild population, but now they will be mixed with the Aldabra tortoises that are already on Cousine island. The Nature Protection Trust of Seychelles took consolation from the fact that it could produce a new generation of young tortoises which will live for at least 100 years. In that time, there may be an opportunity to establish pure populations of the tortoises. The animals live longer than short-term management and development plans can provide for.

Reader's Guide

The Seychelles giant tortoise (A. g. hololissa) is broad, flattened on the back and with raised scutes; it is usually a brownish-grey color. In comparison, the true Aldabra giant tortoise (A. g. gigantea) is a roundly-domed, black-colored subspecies. Like other species of tortoise, the Seychelles giant tortoise is not strictly herbivorous. There have been anecdotal reports of tortoises consuming birds, crabs, and bones. In 2021, a female tortoise on Frégate Island was recorded deliberately hunting, killing, and eating a noddy tern chick. Giant tortoises are among the longest-lived animals on the planet. As of 2026, Jonathan, a 194-year-old, Saint Helena-dwelling Seychelles giant tortoise, is thought to be the oldest living terrestrial animal on Earth since the 2006 death of Harriet; a 176 year old Galapagos giant tortoise who lived at Australia Zoo. Coming in second to Jonathan is Esmeralda, at 182 years old. Esmeralda is an Aldabra giant tortoise living in the Galapagos Islands.

Did You Know?

• By around 1840 it was presumed to be extinct, along with the Arnold's giant tortoise.
• In 2021, a female tortoise on Frégate Island was recorded deliberately hunting, killing, and eating a noddy tern chick.
• As of 2026, Jonathan, a 194-year-old, Saint Helena-dwelling Seychelles giant tortoise, is thought to be the oldest living terrestrial animal on Earth.
• The Nature Protection Trust of Seychelles produced 40 juveniles of the Seychelles giant tortoise before being evicted from Silhouette island in 2011.
• Adwaita, a Seychelles giant tortoise at Kolkata Zoo, is reputed to have reached the longest ever measured life span of 255 years (birth year 1750).