Galapagos Giant Tortoise Birth » Taronga Western Plains Zoo

Galapagos Giant Tortoise Birth
22-05-2011

According to isis a galapagos giant tortoise has hatched at the zoo. Hopefully there will be more to come in the future.

22-05-2011

Very exciting news, if correct, although there is nothing on Tarongas website, facebook page or ZAA census.

Have Galapagos Tortoise succesfully bred in Australasia before?

22-05-2011

The news is correct!

I think that Galapagos bred here back in the '70s.

22-05-2011

Another interesting birth is an agouti and another Francois langur (according to ISIS) at Taronga.

22-05-2011

are there more eggs waiting to hatch or is it just the one?

22-05-2011

Currently I am unsure as it is from isis, but it may be, especially if it is a first time for the female just one egg could have been fertile

23-05-2011

It's magical, to me, the thought that this hatchling could well still be in am Aussie zoo happily munching away on veggies in 150 years. Giant tortoises are like oak trees, they connect different generations and eras of history like no other animal can.

23-05-2011

This is the exact same feeling I had when I read the OP.

Perhaps I may not have, if I hadn't had the chance to work with Harriet though.

24-05-2011

These have bred before in the early seventies (arounds).

It would be good to know the sp. or ssp. to which the current Taronga stock are assigned to.

24-05-2011

Taronga has Aldabrans, not Galapagos tortoises

24-05-2011

I am aware of that. The Galapagos used to be at Taronga then. The original stock is - as far as I am aware - all of Honolulu breeding animals. Purportedly, their origins were in just the one (sub-)species.

On them Aldabrans and historical breedings: there has been a good article on the programme at Taronga in one of the older IZY volumes.


As far as egg-laying et al is concerned; where there is one egg hatching, there is bound to have been more. The fact that the egg had been fertile ..., is the major move forward.

24-05-2011

G'day K.B.

I believe that all Galapagos Tortoises in this country are now being managed at species level.

Any Galapagos that used to be held at Taronga Sydney have all been consolidated at Taronga Western Plains. Some genius thought that it would be beneficial to brand the Dubbo property with the Sydney name as well.

As a side-note - the breeding of the Western Plains Galapagos has long been an ambition of the partner of the late Nathan Jamieson. In this awful year for her I hope that she is drawing some comfort from this success.

29-05-2011

It seems that all the Galapagos tortoise subspecies are now elevated to individual species, so they might need to rethink that idea if they are a mixed bag.

02-06-2011

Slow to get started but T3 the tortoise is a mum aged 90 | thetelegraph.com.au

02-06-2011

There are some good photos of little NJ on the TWPZ facebook page.