“A rare, Western Santa Cruz Galapagos tortoise who is estimated to be 97 has become the oldest known first-time mother of her species,” reports the Washington Post.
The elderly tortoise’s name is Mommy. She lived most of her life in the Philadelphia Zoo, since arriving there in 1932. The father of the baby turtles is named Abrazzo. He is 96. Mommy and Abrazzo
are the new parents to four hatchlings. The newborns bumped the population of Western Santa Cruz Galapagos tortoises in U.S. facilities to 48. In addition to the family of six, Philadelphia Zoo also has Little Girl, who was born at a Bermuda facility in 1940 and moved north in 1956.
The offspring, the first of their kind for the 150-year-old zoo, are a major boon for the future of the critically endangered species….Their introduction to the public will coincide with the 93rd anniversary of Mommy’s arrival at the zoo. They will reside at the popular Philly attraction for at least five years.
Because of their young age and diminutive size, they will live in a protected habitat in the Reptile and Amphibian House, separate from the hulking adults who can weigh up to 500 pounds….
Neither the zoo nor the tortoises rushed the mating [of Mommy and Abrazzo]. Mommy arrived in Philadelphia in 1932, straight from the wilds of the Galapagos. She had had flings with other species, but Abrazzo, whose records go back to a Texas zoo in 1929, was her first Western Santa Cruz.
Specialists, not Cupid, orchestrated the coupling.
“It’s a very fancy matchmaking service that involves a team of geneticists, population biologists, animal-care and husbandry specialists and veterinarians,” Metz said. “They look at the genetic makeup of each individual and the representation of those specific genetics.”
