Aldabra giant tortoise

The Aldabra giant tortoise is one of the largest tortoises in the world. It is native to the Seychelles, with the main population on Aldabra Atoll in the Indian Ocean. It has a high, domed brown or tan shell, thick scaly legs and a very long neck.

Giant tortoises once lived on many western Indian Ocean islands, but most were hunted by European sailors and were gone by 1840. Only the tortoises of Aldabra survived in the wild. Quiz data says about 100,000 live there today. It belongs to the family Testudinidae and the genus Aldabrachelys, and it is similar in size to the famous Galápagos giant tortoise.

Size and body

The shell averages about 122 cm long. Males weigh about 250 kg on average. Females are smaller, around 91 cm of shell and 159 kg. The long neck lets the tortoise reach tree branches up to a metre off the ground.

The card says it grazes on grass and leaves and that individuals can live well over a century. Life span figures vary, so about 150 years should be treated as an estimate.

Island survivors

Fossils show giant tortoises once lived on every continent except Antarctica. Overhunting by sailors wiped out the Indian Ocean species, but Aldabra's tortoises remained.

The species is listed as vulnerable. Several former subspecies are now treated as just one species. A few remnant animals of former subspecies may remain in captivity. Many of the Indian Ocean species were thought to have been driven to extinction by over-exploitation.

On the globe

The model shows an Aldabra giant tortoise with its tall domed shell. Look at the high shell and the thick legs.