Aldabra giant tortoise - Aldabrachelys gigantea

Seen in Pairi Daiza, June 2008.

comments (9)

Ferdy Christant

Lion

I've some doubts about this ID. One signature feature of the radiated tortoise are the star patterns, which are not there at all in your individual. They can sometimes fade a little, but I've not seen any photo where it simply disappears. Here's the most faded pattern I could find:
https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/170857151/original.jpeg

Note how you can still see the vertical lines. The second doubt is color, their bodies are yellow, not gray. Dirt can mask their original color, but unlikely to this extreme.

Finally, it's hard to get a sense of scale in your photo, but the tortoise looks huge. A radiated tortoise is tiny, you can hold an adult in the palm of your hand. Posted 3 years ago
1. Patomarazul
  
  Lion
  
  I have to see if I can find more pics and also remember in which part of the exhibits was seen to verify. I was also not sure but then it looked alike one in a pic from the list of animals from PD. I will revise it tomorrow ;-) Posted 3 years ago
2. 1. Ferdy Christant
    
    Lion
    
    Sure, thanks! Posted 3 years ago
  2. 1. Patomarazul
      
      Lion
      
      Hey Ferdy, this is the Pairi Daiza link I saw that looked to me alike:
      http://pearcatprod.free.fr/detail.php?anim=101
      
      and this in this page there is a list of the other tortoises they have:
      http://pearcatprod.free.fr/animaux.php?lettre=t
      
      Do you see another more alike? if yes, let me know. In the meantime I will try to see if I can find the location of the enclosure to see if this way I can come up with the species as unfirtunately this time I did not make pics of description panels. I'll follow up on this later.
      Posted 3 years ago
    2. 1. Ferdy Christant
        
        Lion
        
        Regarding that first link, it looks like another photo of a radiated tortoise with a strongly faded pattern. Yet if you click on the second photo with the side view, you can see that the star pattern is still quite visible. Not seeing a single trace of any pattern is what made me doubtful, followed by body color and size.
        
        But anyway, I think we already agree it's another species so will now move on to your other suggestion. Posted 3 years ago

Patomarazul

Lion

I think it may be this one and that they no longer have it (the pic was made in 2008). Check it out and let me know: https://www.zoommoment.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=271&pid=18589

Aldabrachelys gigantea Posted 3 years ago
1. Ferdy Christant
  
  Lion
  
  To me that looks like a good suggestion. I'm seeing lots of full body shots online that show a lot of similarities with your photo in overall body build, the inconsistent hexagon patterns, similar size impression, etc. Posted 3 years ago
2. 1. Patomarazul
    
    Lion
    
    Ok, since Pairi Daiza, then Paradisio had this species then I take that as a yes, many thanks for the check up and correction! :-) Posted 3 years ago
  2. 1. Ferdy Christant
      
      Lion
      
      My pleasure. Posted 3 years ago

The Aldabra giant tortoise

The Aldabra giant tortoise, from the islands of the Aldabra Atoll in the Seychelles, is one of the largest tortoises in the world. Historically, giant tortoises were on many of the western Indian Ocean islands, as well as Madagascar, and the fossil record indicates giant tortoises once occurred on every continent and many islands with the exception of Australia and Antarctica.

Info 10 0

Similar species: Turtles And Tortoises

Species identified by Patomarazul

By Patomarazul

Uploaded Jan 3, 2022. Captured Jun 15, 2008 13:04 in HVPP+2W Brugelette, Belgium.

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Canon PowerShot S3 IS
f/4.0
1/159s
16.8mm