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The Largest Turtle Species | Secrets of the Zoo: Down Under
The Largest Turtle Species | Secrets of the Zoo: Down Under
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0:02
- A lot of people like the slower pace of country life.
0:09
- Hey, Franklin.
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- And out at Taronga Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo,
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the world's largest species of tortoise, the Galapagos,
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takes the whole slower pace thing down to the next level.
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- So these guys are from the Galapagos Islands,
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so they're an archipelago of islands about 500 kilometers
0:29
off Ecuador, South America.
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And they are just so unique.
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They are up to 300 kilos for the males.
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Franklin here is about 260 kilos, so he's very, very big.
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And here at Dubbo at Taronga Western Plains Zoo,
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we have eight Galapagos tortoises.
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So we actually have five adults, so three
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males, two females, and then we have
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our three little hatchlings.
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So NJ here, he was the first Galapagos tortoise
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that we've ever had, hatched here in the whole Australasian
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region.
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So we were the first zoo to breed them.
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And since he was born, we've actually
1:00
had two more hatchlings born six years ago, so Pena and Turbo.
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They weigh about a kilo each.
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It's definitely been a team effort
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to breed such a challenging species,
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and I feel very, very grateful to work with them every day.
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- But astonishingly, these youngest tortoises
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actually came from the zoo's oldest resident.
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- So this is Audrey.
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She is about 95 years old, and she is the proud mom
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of our three little hatchlings.
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So pretty amazing, 95 years old and a mum.
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But everything about Galapagos tortoises
1:35
is just incredibly slow.
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They move very slowly.
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They move at a top speed of about 0.3 kilometers an hour.
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- And here lies the main reason they
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are so difficult to breed, as they really, really
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take their time doing anything.
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- It takes them about 30 years before they'll generally
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start breeding, and it'll often be even longer than that
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before they're in the prime of their breeding age,
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before they feel comfortable, and before they
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actually lay that first clutch.
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- The Galapagos tortoise is a perfect example
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of evolution, ideally illustrated by how they've
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evolved to be able to breed.
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- Basically, the tortoiseshell is made up
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of two parts, the carapace which is the top part,
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and then that connects all the way
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through to underneath the plastron, which is just
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the bottom half of the shell.
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The plastron, so the under part of the shell there, for males
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is completely-- it's quite concave,
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and that's just for mounting the females.
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So they fit together when they mate with the females.
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They fit together like two spoons, so quite
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an amazing shell, I think.
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- Evolution has also given them another strange quirk,
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but this one is more to do with cleanliness.
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- So this very handsome fellow is
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actually our largest Galapagos tortoise here at the zoo.
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This is Albert.
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He is 50 years old, and I'm going to get him to do
2:55
a very impressive behavior.
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And he's already done it.
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He knows the drill.
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So you can just see, he was in a total sitting position there,
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just grazing on this hay.
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And then as soon as I approached him and started to give him
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a little bit of a tickle, he's raised up
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into this really impressive finch
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pose, as we like to call it.
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So we can see, he's got his neck stretched as far as he can,
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his legs stretched up as far as he can,
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and he's staying incredibly still.
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So on the Galapagos Islands, they
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have this symbiotic relationship with finches
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that live on the islands.
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And basically what they'll do, the finches
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will fly up to the tortoise.
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It'll elicit this behavior, and they'll rise up
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like this and the finch can then feed off dead skin
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and bugs from the tortoise.
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Here at the zoo, if there's anything
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we need the vets to come down and have a look at,
3:42
they can come down.
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We'll get the tortoises up like this in the exact same pose.
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They're the best patients in the zoo.
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The vet's love them because of how willing they are
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to participate in all their health checks,
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and they're even able to get-- take blood from the tortoises
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in this position.
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We'll just give the tortoises a really, really good
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scratch, which will distract them
3:59
and they'll be able to take blood.
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So amazing patients and amazing to work with.
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- And after spending time with these gentle giants--
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- Here you go, Wilbur.
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- --how could their zen lifestyle
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not rub off on the keepers?
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- It is an awesome experience being
4:19
a Galapagos tortoise keeper.
4:20
You learn patience very, very quickly.
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Everything about them is slow.
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But you're just in awe the whole time you're down here.
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You can't believe that a tortoise
4:28
can be this big, that they can have so much personality.
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It is such a nice way to spend some of your day.
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You can just come down here and just chill out even.
4:38
You know, they're just calming to be around, and they--
4:40
yeah.
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They remind me to take things slow.
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