Galapogos Tortoise
[ Home ] [ Up ]

Geochelone elephantopu

The Spanish translation for Tortoise is Tortuga

Home:  The Galapagos Islands

Food:  Leaves, fruit, and lichens

Size:  Up to 500 pounds

Life Span:  200 years

Galapagos Tortoise Trivia:

• The Galapagos Tortoise moves very, very slowly.
  
  
• With a 200 year life span, these Tortoises are thought to be one of the longest living animals on the face of the earth.
  
  
• The Galapagos Islands, off the coast of Ecuador, each has its own different type of Tortoise

Top of Page

The Galapagos Tortoise is an Endangered Species

Originally there were 15 different species of Galapagos Tortoise.  Four of these are now extinct.  When man moved into the Galapagos Islands, he brought danger to the tortoises.  Dogs, pigs and goats all destroy the Tortoises eggs.  Man, himself, has hunted the tortoises for their ringed shells and their meat.  Volcanic eruptions have also destroyed many of the tortoises.

Our Meet the Animals section includes research from the following websites:

The Austin Zoo's website:  www.austinzoo.org.

Spanish translations courtesy of the Austin Zoo.

Rolling Hills Refuge Wildlife Conservation Center http://www.rhrwildlife.com/animbot.htm

The Birmingham Zoo  http://www.birminghamzoo.com/

The WWW Virtual Library: Zoos  http://zoonet.home.mindspring.com/www_virtual_lib/zoos.html

Photographs in Our Meet the Animals Section from PrintMaster Platinum v8.0 software.

Research on farm animals came primarily from  http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/

Top of Page