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After eating your favorite meal of romaine lettuce and cactus fruit for over a century, dear galapagos Gramma, the San Diego Zoo’s oldest resident tortoise, has died.
Zoo officials said Gramma was born in her native habitat and was estimated to be about 141 years old. He died on 20 November.
It’s not clear exactly when the turtle arrived at the San Diego Zoo, but zoo officials said that’s where she came from. Bronx Zoo As part of his first group of Galapagos tortoises in 1928 or 1931.
As the world changed around her, she delighted visitors with her sweet, shy personality. She lived through two world wars and 20 American presidents.
Her caregivers affectionately called her “the queen of the zoo.” The zoo said she was suffering from age-related bone problems, which had recently worsened, before she was euthanized.
Many visitors commented on social media that they first visited Gramma when they were younger, and were able to return with their children years later.
Christina Park, 69, said one of her earliest childhood memories was going to the San Diego Zoo when she was 3 or 4 years old and riding on the back of a turtle. This is no longer allowed, but the experience inspired him to keep a small desert tortoise as a pet and learn more about tortoise conservation.
“It’s amazing that they managed to endure so much,” Park said. “And yet they’re still there.”
Galapagos tortoises can live for over 100 years in the wild, and almost twice that in captivity.
Oldest known Galapagos tortoise named HarrietWho lived in Australia Zoo till the age of 175. they were collected from Galapagos Islands In 1835, according to the zoo, when she was just the size of a dinner plate. This means that she was born around 1830 and died in 2006.
The Galapagos tortoises include 15 subspecies of tortoises from the islands, three of which were thought to be extinct. All others are vulnerable or critically endangered, according to International Union for Conservation of Nature,
According to the Galapagos Conservancy, concerted efforts have been made to breed these tortoises in captivity over the past several decades, with more than 10,000 juveniles released into the wild since 1965. Some subspecies have been brought back from the brink of extinction.
In April, four Galapagos tortoises were born to first-time parents at the Philadelphia Zoo, who lived to be nearly 100 years old, a first in the zoo’s history. In June, Zoo Miami resident and Galapagos tortoise Goliath became a father for the first time at the age of 135.