Even at an advanced age, it’s possible to contribute significantly to the survival of a species, as demonstrated by a nearly centenarian Galápagos tortoise at the Philadelphia Zoo who has just become a mother at the age of 92. This event is akin to someone having a baby in their later years at a retirement facility.
The tortoise, affectionately named Mommy, along with her mate, Abrazzo—a name that suggests he’s quite the charmer among tortoises—recently celebrated the arrival of four tortoise hatchlings. This marks not only Mommy’s first time as a mother but also the first time Galápagos tortoises have been born at the Philadelphia Zoo in its 150 years of operation. This achievement also sets Mommy as the oldest recorded Galápagos tortoise to give birth.
Elderly Galápagos Tortoise Becomes a Mother for the First Time
The reason I refer to her as Mommy is because that is indeed her name. It might seem a bit direct, but if she doesn’t mind, neither should we.
Abrazzo, whose name evokes the Spanish word for “embrace” (though spelled differently), was transferred from a zoo in South Carolina in 2020 as part of a Species Survival Plan aimed at boosting the numbers of the Galápagos tortoise. With only about 20,000 of these tortoises existing in the wild, the birth of these new hatchlings is a thrilling and significant event. These youngsters represent a beacon of hope for a species on the verge of extinction.
It took several attempts to achieve this success; the first three batches of eggs did not result in any hatchlings. However, a clutch laid in November 2024 finally brought joy with the arrival of four baby girls, and there may be more on the way as not all the eggs have hatched yet.
The zoo has scheduled April 23 for the public introduction of the new tortoise babies. This event will also double as a celebration for Mommy’s 93rd birthday. The zoo plans to let the public name the new hatchlings, a promotional strategy that typically proves to be quite successful.
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