(June 17, 2006)


Humans are to tortoises as dogs and cats are to humans. Those of us of a certain age (such a polite way to say "geezer") are amazed almost daily by how quickly our lives fly by, and saddened by the loss of those from our past who have passed away. How wondrous, then, to consider a creature (endangered, naturally) whose lifespan places us humans in the same paltry position as our pets: a lifespan only a third of a longer-lived and dearly loved companion.

Here are the stories of two such creatures, tortoises who lived in the time of Captain Cook and Darwin. Creatures who may well remember their first, second, third, fourth and fifth human keepers affectionately, much as we remember our long-lost pets.

Here is a selection from a Wikipedia entry:

Tortoises generally have lifespans comparable with those of human beings, and some individuals are known to have lived longer than 150 years. Because of this, they symbolize longevity in some cultures, such as China. The oldest tortoise ever recorded, indeed the oldest individual animal ever recorded, was Tui Malila, who was presented to the Tongan royal family by the British explorer Captain Cook, in either 1773 or 1777 (the exact date is not known). Tui Malila remained in the care of the Tongan royal family until its death by natural causes on May 19, 1965. This means that upon its death, Tui Malila was at least either 188 or 192 years old, but either figure gains it the title of oldest Cheloniinae (tortoise or turtle) ever recorded.

Another tortoise has laid claim to be the oldest creature ever: The Alipore zoo in India was the home to Adwaitya, which zoo officals claimed was the oldest living creature until its death on Thursday, March 23, 2006. Adwaitya (sometimes spelled with two d's) was an Aldabra giant tortoise which was brought to India by Lord Wellesley who handed it over to the Alipur Zoological Gardens in 1875 when the zoo was set up. It has been there ever since. Zoo officials state they have documentation showing that Adwaitya was at least 130 years old, but claim that he was over 250 years old (although this has not been scientifically verified). Addwaitya was said to be the pet of Robert Clive.

Please see links below for Adwaitya's photo and story:

wikipedia-Adwaitya

BBC

answers.com

Express India

palmspringslife.com

Darwin's tortoises

wikipedia-giant tortoises

gardenweb.com

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