scallywag2024
Well-Known Member
Does anyone know how many Giant Aldabra Tortoises are at Melbourne Zoo? There were several exhibits last visit housing this species?
Aldabra Giant Tortoises
- Thread starter scallywag2024
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There should be 10 in total.
Two older males (Wilbur and Little John) in Growing Wild and an older female (Jean) and five younger tortoises in the larger exhibit near the Reptile House.
Plus two in the indoor area of Growing Wild.
Yeah, Melbourne should have ten currently. However I do note they had eleven as of last year per the inventory report, another young tortoise that perhaps might be off display?
And I also only saw one of the younger tortoises in the Growing Wild building in my most recent visit, after seeing the two you mention on all of my other visits this year.
Eight were imported from Mauritius in 2021 and the inventory report indeed says they had 4.4.3 as of June 2024, so if you and others have only seen 10 I wonder if the younger cohort (which consists of 2.3.3 tortoises) has been separated in response to conflicts between the males as they mature, especially if some of the three unknowns have since been determined to be male.
John and Wilbur clearly live together without issue, but inter-male aggression in this species may occur during breeding season and I imagine the presence of females could incite aggression.
scallywag2024
Well-Known Member
See I thought they had more than 11
Not unless some have been transferred in without it being announced. Darling Downs Zoo have a large colony, but none of transferred to my knowledge (@Zorro is more up to speed with Darling Downs Zoo and could probably advise).
With the population they have, Melbourne is well placed to breed in the decades to come. Long term, a transfer of some of these to Werribee and Kyabram wouldn’t be surprising.
They don't, unless they have recently acquired some youngsters in the last year and they're housed off display - which is unlikely.
Melbourne has at least nine on display at the moment. Potentially ten, but I'll have to double check when I next visit.
As far as I can remember 3 shipments arrived off the top of my head the first group were ten young ones which I believe the zoo kept that group, I believe if my memory serves me right that 2 more shipment's came after that that were a "combined imports" with a couple of other zoos via the DDZ, I do remember some were sent to two other zoos I believe one could have been Melbourne Zoo in fact I am quite sure it was. I could be wrong but I believe the second group were 20+ of which perhaps 6 stayed at the DDZ.
The DDZ Giant Tortoise exhibit complex is impressive!
@Steve Robinson
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scallywag2024
Well-Known Member
I wonder if someone can do a breakdown of all the giant tortoises in Oz? I wouldn’t know where to start… has Australia ever bred Aldabs?
Aonika at Adelaide Zoo hatched in 1976 at Taronga Zoo. With the imports @Zorro has detailed above, it’s definitely something I see happening again in the long term future.
We have a Galapagos giant tortoise population thread:
Australasian Galapagos Giant Tortoise Population
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That Aussie Guy
Well-Known Member
Not a full breakdown but I do know that ~10 years ago Adelaide Zoo bred some Aldabra Giant Tortoises, one(?) of which they retained, 4 of which were sent to Monarto, and some were sent to Gorge(?? They have some around the same age/size)
That’s exciting! I saw a juvenile on my visit last November (as well as adult female Aonika), but didn’t realise it’d been bred on site.
I see Monarto received their Aldabra giant tortoises in 2022, one of which (a female named Legs) was mentioned to have been 10 years old on socials last week.
Current holders are: Adelaide Zoo, Australia Zoo, Ballarat Wildlife Park, Darling Downs Zoo, Gorge Wildlife Park, Melbourne Zoo, Monarto Zoo, Shoalhaven Zoo, Taronga Zoo and the Wild Cat Conservation Centre.
That Aussie Guy
Well-Known Member
A further update from a quick search I did today, found on the Adelaide Zoo website:
The gorgeous Aldabra Tortoise Aonika hatched in September 1976 at Taronga Zoo, arriving at Adelaide Zoo in July 1987.
scallywag2024
Well-Known Member
Thanks - a friend visited melb zoo and they said there was 3 exhibits with “about 15” tortoises… hmmm maybe they have done another import or my friend cannot count
Or, were these from the DDZ import? They imported twenty plus, retained five individuals, so that would leave at least fifteen that were sent elsewhere.
Melbourne presumably has another five of them, so that would leave around ten individuals. Gorge has at least two at the moment, so adding Adelaide's and Monarto's that gives around seven tortoises. It seems Shoalhaven may have also got some from that same import.
It's difficult to count, especially the Tortoises in the large enclosure next to the Reptile House, but I'm confident the zoo has at least nine individuals currently on display. I last visited a few weeks, corroborating that information, and in all my previous visits from this year I've seen 10.
Melbourne should have 11 Aldabra giant tortoise on site. There may be 10 if one has died/transferred out, but it seems more likely it’s simply off display.
Either way, I don’t see any reason the zoo would bring in additional tortoises. The ones they have (including 7-8 young tortoises) aren’t getting any smaller. If your friend said ‘about 15’ rather than definitively saying they saw 15, I’d take it with a pinch of salt. I saw ‘about 15’ Indian antelope at Hamilton Zoo last week. When I actually counted them, there were 13.
That Aussie Guy
Well-Known Member
There is a possibility, but I inferred that they were bred due to Photos and memories from Adelaide Zoo 8-10 years ago, where a number of baby (smaller-than-fist-sized) Aldabra Giant Tortoises were kept in a large enclosure in the Reptile House (home to the young tortoise at the zoo up until ~a year ago, when it moved into the main yard, and blood pythons filled the old Reptile House enclosure), and I believed they were too young to join be part of an import
I do 100% recognise I could be wrong though, and would welcome confirmation from Adelaide Zoo, or anyone else who knows for sure
Next time I visit I'll try and track down a reptile keeper to double check
There is a possibility, but I inferred that they were bred due to Photos and memories from Adelaide Zoo 8-10 years ago, where a number of baby (smaller-than-fist-sized) Aldabra Giant Tortoises were kept in a large enclosure in the Reptile House (home to the young tortoise at the zoo up until ~a year ago, when it moved into the main yard, and blood pythons filled the old Reptile House enclosure), and I believed they were too young to join be part of an import
I do 100% recognise I could be wrong though, and would welcome confirmation from Adelaide Zoo, or anyone else who knows for sure
Next time I visit I'll try and track down a reptile keeper to double check
There doesn’t seem to be a record of Adelaide Zoo breeding them. It’s not unheard of zoos to neglect to mention news (even significant news); but it would be surprising if Adelaide Zoo achieved the first successful breeding of this species in Australia since the 1970’s and it went completely unmentioned.
@Zorro advised there were multiple shipments (potentially three). The first was in 2013 and consisted of 10 juveniles hatched 2009, so it’s more than possible one of the later imports contained hatchlings that hatched 2015 (the age of Legs at Monarto). I’m inclined to believe they’re from one of these subsequent shipments.
That Aussie Guy
Well-Known Member
That very well could be the case, in which case I apologise for jumping to conclusions!