Aldabra Giant Tortoise

During his visit to Seychelles, Narendra Modi visited the Seychelles National Botanical Garden and highlighted the Aldabra Giant Tortoise as a symbol of the longstanding friendship between India and Seychelles.

• The Prime Minister recalled that Seychelles had gifted Aldabra Giant Tortoises to Indian zoos, including:
  • Alipore Zoological Garden in 2014.
  • Nehru Zoological Park a few years later.

About the Aldabra Giant Tortoise

• Scientific Name: Aldabrachelys gigantea.
• It is one of the largest and longest-living land tortoises in the world.
• Some individuals are known to live for more than 200 years.

Distribution

• The species is endemic to the Aldabra Atoll, a remote coral atoll in Seychelles in the Indian Ocean.
• Its isolated habitat helped the species survive while many other giant tortoise species became extinct.

Evolution

• The Aldabra Giant Tortoise attained its large size through Island gigantism.
• Island gigantism is an evolutionary process in which animals living on isolated islands become much larger than their mainland relatives due to:
  • Absence of major predators.
  • Reduced competition for food.
  • Long-term evolutionary adaptation.

Characteristics

• Herbivorous land tortoise.
• Males are larger than females and possess longer and thicker tails, exhibiting sexual dimorphism.
• It is known for its slow growth, long lifespan, and ecological role in seed dispersal and maintaining island vegetation.

Conservation Status

• IUCN Red List: Aldabrachelys gigantea – Vulnerable (VU).
• The species is protected through conservation measures in the Aldabra Atoll, a Aldabra Atoll, which is also recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

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