DJD's Atlas of Colossal Chelonians

[DJD Zoo Pals]

As someone with a keen interest in zoology, I've long been a fan of visiting zoos and aquaria. Like any zoo fan, I have favorite taxa, with the specific list ebbing and flowing over time. Within the past year or so I've found myself becoming increasingly intrigued by insular giant tortoises, including both the Aldabra (Aldabrachelys gigantea) and Galapagos (Chelonoidis niger) varieties. These creatures are the last representatives of a once great and diverse assemblage of giants, which until relatively recently were major components of both continental and insular ecosystems. When looking at a group of giant tortoises in a zoo, it's hard not to imagine what it must have been like to see herds of the lost giants of Madagascar, the Mascarenes, or the Caribbean, let alone continental giants like Hesperotestudo or Megalochelys!

The avenue they provide for mental time travel is probably one of the reasons giant tortoises are a favorite of mine to see at zoos. Another is because they make for great photography subjects. The characteristically slow, deliberate movements of a tortoise mean I don't have to worry about tracking a fast-moving target. Additionally, their immense size is very impressive, which makes seeing them in the flesh or through a good photograph truly awe inspiring. Personally, I also just find tortoises fascinating animals to look at: they have very expressive faces with lots of personality!

The long lifespans of tortoises mean that many individuals become fixtures at their respective zoos, often evolving into locally famous icons. That fact, along with their calm disposition allowing for close interactions with the public, make them fantastic ambassadors for conservation. They've certainly hooked me!

With that lengthy preamble, I'll be using this thread to document the different individual tortoises I've seen at various zoos. All the information I've included in individual entries has been compiled from publicly available sources: news reports, social media posts, websites, and zoo signage/keeper outreach. If you know any additional information about any of the individuals I feature, please feel free to share!

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I'm going to start this thread with one of the most impressive tortoises I've seen to date: Bravo, the large male Western Santa Cruz Giant Tortoise (Chelonoidis niger porteri) currently residing at Riverbanks Zoo and Garden in Columbia, South Carolina. The shells of C. n. porteri are among the most domed of all Galapagos tortoise subspecies, which is certainly apparent when viewing Bravo head-on. Western Santa Cruz Giant Tortoises are also one of the largest Galapagos subspecies, reaching 500 lbs with relative ease. Indeed, the largest Galapagos tortoise ever recorded, a male appropriately named Goliath who tipped the scales at a whopping 920 lbs, was a member of this subspecies. While Bravo doesn't weight quite that much, he's still seriously impressive at ~650 lbs. Bravo is also old, at ~120 years of age. As with most adult tortoises, this is an estimate as his exact hatch date is unknown. In Bravo's case this is because he came from the wild as an adult in 1928. Bravo has not fathered any of the ~33 hatchling tortoises currently residing at Riverbanks (they were instead fathered by Abrazzo, who is currently on loan to the Philadelphia Zoo).

Bravo, strolling majestically forward.

Bravo as seen from the front, showing just how exceptionally wide he is.


The second largest individual at Riverbanks is Conchita, a female Western Santa Cruz Giant Tortoise (Chelonoidis niger porteri). Conchita is also ~120 years old, coming to the U.S. at the same time as Bravo. Along with her size, Conchita is also pretty distinctive due to the numerous dents and epoxy patches across her carapace. Apparently, Conchita is pretty adventurous and has damaged her shell multiple times trying to reach browse around the perimeter of her enclosure.

The smallest, youngest, and most prolific breeder of the adult Western Santa Cruz Giant Tortoises at Riverbanks is Alberta. Alberta is ~200 lbs and around 50-60 years old, coming to the U.S. as an adult in 1951 and calling Riverbanks home since 1995. Alberta is the only female who has bred at Riverbanks and is thus the mother of all the hatchlings produced by the zoo.

Alberta, seen lounging in one of the mud wallows present in the tortoise yard.

A close up of Alberta's head, showing the pale white to yellow splotches which are present around the faces of many C. n. porteri individuals.


A bonus picture of one of the juveniles on display in the Aquarium & Reptile Conservation Center. I'm unsure which clutch it was a part of.

 

[DJD Zoo Pals]

Moving from the Riverbanks tortoises, who I was able to find a great deal of information on, to some tortoises where I know very little at all!

Here we have the Aldabra giant tortoises (Aldabrachelys gigantea) living at Brights Zoo in Limestone, Tennessee. This is a private, non-AZA zoo probably most famous for their spotless giraffe Kipekee. As far as giant tortoises go, they have one large adult Aldabra tortoise named Big Daddy who shares their yard with a sulcata tortoise (Centrochelys sulcata).

In another area of the zoo there is as square, relatively featureless yard containing at least eight juvenile tortoises (although photos on their Facebook page suggest they may have as many as 17 (!?) individuals in this enclosure).

The juvenile Aldabra giant tortoise yard at Brights Zoo. You can see a number of individuals scattered about in the shade of the barn.

A closer view at the open barn door, with some of the juvenile tortoises resting around the entrance.

 

[toxodon]

I am so happy that there is another tortoise person here. Riverbanks hands down has some of the most beautiful Galaps I've ever seen. They are so impressive and I was shocked seeing them for the first time with how large they were. Plus plenty of younger tortoises were around. It was so nice

 

[Austin the Sengi]

What a very thorough thread about these individual tortoises! I really enjoyed the current posts thus far and I cannot wait for more!!

 

[DJD Zoo Pals]

I'm glad people seem to be enjoying my tortoise related ramblings!

@toxodon, I agree that Riverbanks is really special for tortoise fans. The big adult Galapagos are impressive and it's quite nice to see lots of juveniles of various ages around as well. I wish I had documented their enclosures better during my visit: they have some very nice accommodations.

The Aquarium & Reptile Conservation Center as a whole is one of the better herp complexes I've seen. I was especially pleased with their radiated tortoise yard out front, which was expansive, well planted, and absolutely briming with probably ~10 individuals who were displaying lots of breeding behavior while I was there. Certainly a stark contrast to the Brights Zoo Aldabra yard!

 

[DJD Zoo Pals]

More Aldabra giant tortoises (Aldabrachelys gigantea) this time around, these being some of the individuals residing at Zoo Knoxville in Knoxville, Tennessee. While the zoo is home to a number of Aldabra tortoises (see below), there are two individuals I'll highlight in particular here.

Starting with Knoxville's indisputable star attraction, Big Al has been a fixture at the zoo since 1974. With such a long tenure at Zoo Knoxville Big Al has become something of a local celebrity. His seasonal comings and goings between a winter greenhouse and his centrally located bachelor pad paddock (opened in 2021 along with the rest of the ARC campus) often make local news, as have the trials and tribulations of his love life. Apparently Big Al doesn't play very nice during the breeding season, and that, along with his size, prompted the zoo to house him separately from the rest of their herd during the summer. As far as Aldabra tortoises go Big Al is indeed pretty big, weighing it at around 525 lbs. The zoo estimates Al is around 150-year-old, although that is again based on the fact he came from the wild as a mature adult. Big Al is a very personable tortoise, and according to his keepers he loves the attention he gets from guests (when he's not sleeping submerged in his pool, that is). If you ever find yourself at Zoo Knoxville, I highly recommend trying to catch Big Al's keeper talk: his keepers have lots of great stories about Al and his misadventures.

Big Al in all his glory, standing tall for neck scratches

Big Al as you'll often find him on hot summer days: resting in his own private pool. There are a number of signs around the enclosure informing visitors that Al has not in fact drowned, he simply likes to sleep fully submerged when it gets really warm.


Not nearly as large or famous as Big Al, Tex is nonetheless an impressive specimen. Another male, Tex is ~350 lbs and is suspected to be older than Big Al, perhaps approaching ~200 years old (although that is another estimate; Tex has only been at Zoo Knoxville since 1995). He certainly looks quite old, with a very smooth carapace plus a somewhat grouchy expression caused by the upward curve of his right rhamphotheca and a slightly protruding lower jaw.

Tex, chomping down on an afternoon snack.

I particularly like this closeup: the bit of straw sticking out of his mouth resembling a toothpick really sells the name Tex!


There are three other, younger males and a couple of females at Zoo Knoxville who share Tortoise Trails with Tex during the summer, but I unfortunately don't know their names. Tortoise Trails itself is a neat attraction, as during the summer you can pay an extra fee for a guided walk through an enclosure containing both their Aldabra and radiated tortoises. The enclosure is somewhat tucked away and honestly quite hard to find, plus the operating hours for the Tortoise Trails experience are also pretty limited. All this means that I arrived just after they had closed it for the day and unfortunately didn't have a chance to meet any of the tortoises in the yard. Oh well.