Aldabra Giant Tortoise

Aldabrachelys gigantea

Very Easy (Promiscuous)

The **Aldabra Giant Tortoise** (*Aldabrachelys gigantea*) is a large African reptile featured in *Planet Zoo*. It is featured in the Standard Edition of the game.

## Zoopedia Description

### General

**Population in the Wild:** 152,000

Endemic to the Seychelle Islands, an Indian Ocean archipelago east of the African coast, the Aldabra giant tortoise (or *Aldabrachelys gigantea*) is a reptilian species capable of growing to extremely large sizes. Males average between 200 and 250 kg, while the smaller females still average between 121 and 159kg. Their shells are a dull, grey-brown colour made up of peaked keratinous plates and their skin is scaly and grey.

Historically, Aldabra giant tortoises have been hunted for their meat and oil. Between the 17th and 19th Centuries, sailors would capture and keep them on their ship. They were an excellent food supply as the large creatures provided plenty of meat and required very little maintenance while at sea. As a result of this hunting, the Aldabra giant tortoise is the only one of the 18 giant tortoise species that has not gone extinct due to overexploitation. In order to bring the species back from the brink of dying out, captive breeding efforts have meant more giant tortoises have been bred and released back into the wild, while those tortoise set free are protected by conservation efforts.

### Social

Aldabra giant tortoises are solitary but will tolerate other tortoises. Males may be aggressive towards other males during the mating season But females have no problem during mating.

### Reproduction

If a male and female encounter each other during the mating season, the male will invariably attempt to mate by climbing on her back. The female may accept this by remaining still, or reject it by walking away or raising herself high on her legs so that the male slips off. If the female acquiesces, she will carry her fertilized eggs with her for 110 to 250 days until laying a clutch of them in a shallow nest. In the wild, the clutch will number between 4 and 14 eggs, while in captivity this number increases to between 9 and 25. In both cases, however, only 30-50% of these eggs will hatch. When the hatchlings emerge, they live completely independently and will reach sexual maturity between 20 and 30 years old.

## Animal Care

 FEEDING STATIONS
 FOOD ENRICHMENT
Block of Frozen Fruit · Dog Ball · Fruit Spike Tree
Herb Scent Marker · Small Ball · Small Ice Ball Enrichment · Sprinkler · Small Ball Colourful · Rubber Duck

## Trivia

### Zoopedia Fun Facts

* The Aldabra giant tortoise has one of the longest lifespans of any animal in the world. The oldest ever recorded reached the age of 255.
* Aldabra tortoises have two shell types; domed and flat. Domed-shelled tortoises are adapted to eating food on the ground, so they can stretch their necks downwards, and flat-shelled tortoises are adapted to eating from branches, so they can stretch their necks upwards.
* Aldabra giant tortoises are so large, they carve paths through their environments which are often used by other foraging animals. They provide an important ecosystem service by doing this!
* Although Aldabra giant tortoises are rarely predated upon due to their large sizes, their eggs and juvenile tortoises are vulnerable to predation by crabs.
* The sex of a tortoise hatchling is dependent on the incubation temperature of the egg. Warm temperatures produce more females and cool temperatures produce more males.