A Petite Girl Meets Her Hunk Of A Mate At The Bristol Zoo - Tortoise Love Story

By Lucy Parkinson 

Bristol, UK - Love could be in the air for Biggie, the Zoo’s resident male giant tortoise, as a new mate arrives in time for Valentine’s Day.

Matilda is a young, female Aldabran giant tortoise (Geochelone gigantean) coming to Bristol from London Zoo on Friday (February 13).

At just 16.1kg (2.5 stone) the new arrival is still tiny in comparison to Biggie’s colossal weight of 175kg (27.6 stone) – equivalent to an adult gorilla - but it is hoped she will eventually breed with Biggie as part of a conservation breeding programme.
 
Matilda is still young in tortoise years, at around 15-years-old, and has not bred before. Her exact age is not known as she was donated to London Zoo by a private collector in 2003. Her shell measures just 45cm long and 34cm wide.
 
Biggie, meanwhile, is estimated to be around 80 or 90-years-old, and measures 107cm long and 64cm wide. Despite his advancing years, Biggie still has many years of breeding potential left in him as giant tortoises can live to be more than 150 and can grow up to 250kg (39.4 stone).
 
Tim Skelton, curator of reptiles at Bristol Zoo Gardens, said: “The arrival of Matilda is a great addition to our giant tortoise collection and it would be great if Biggie and Matilda bred in future.”
 
Matilda joins Bristol Zoo’s current two adult female giant tortoises, Twiggie and Helen. Biggie, the Zoo’s only male giant tortoise, has been at Bristol Zoo since 1975 after being donated by Bristol University.
 
He was thought to be an Aldabra giant tortoise, one of the largest tortoise species from Aldabra Atoll, the western-most island of the Seychelles Archipelago. However, recent research has highlighted the possibility that Biggie might be one of the few remaining Seychelles giant tortoises, an almost extinct close relation.
 
For more information about Bristol Zoo Gardens, or to find out how to adopt one of the giant tortoises, or any of the Zoo’s 450 animal species, visit the zoo website at www.bristolzoo.org.uk or phone 0117 974 7300.
 
About Bristol Zoo Gardens
*         Bristol Zoo Gardens is open from 9am every day except Christmas Day. 
*         The Zoo is an Education and Conservation Charity and relies on the income from visitors to support its work. 
*         The Zoo is involved with over one hundred co-ordinated breeding programmes for threatened wildlife species. 
*         It employs 140 full and part-time staff to care for the animals and run a successful visitor attraction to support its conservation and education work. 
*         Bristol Zoo Gardens supports – through finance and skill sharing - over 10 projects in the UK and abroad that conserve and protect some of the world’s most endangered species.
*         Bristol Zoo Gardens is a member of the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums. BIAZA represents more than 90 member collections and promotes the values of good zoos and aquariums. 
 
Giant tortoises – species under threat:
*         All giant tortoise populations have declined following contact with humans. 
*         Huge numbers were taken by sailing ships as food for long sea voyages, as tortoises survive for long periods without food and thus provide fresh meat. 
*         In more recent times, poaching, theft and predation by feral cats and rats are the main cause of mortality. 
*         They also suffered from habitat destruction, largely as a result of guano mining in the 19th and early 20th century.
*         Since 1840 it had been assumed that all Indian Ocean giant tortoises had been exterminated with the exception of the Aldabran species.  The tortoises of Aldabra were saved by appeals for the conservation of Aldabra Atoll by eminent scientists of the time, including Charles Darwin, and the leasing of the island by Lord Walter Rothschild who maintained a passionate interest in the biology and conservation of these animals.
*         The Aldabra tortoise was recognised to be an endangered species in the late 1800s.
*         After 1892, the Aldabran population crashed with only an estimated 1,000 survivors, however since 1925 the population has recovered steadily. 
*         The present population is estimated to be over 150,000.
*         Female giant tortoises are smaller than the males, growing up to 91cm in length.
  
Bristol, Clifton & West of England Zoological Society Ltd
Company registered in Endgand, reg no. 5154176
Registered office: Bristol Zoo Gardens, Clifton, Bristol, BS8 3HA