200-YEAR-OLD TORTOISE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 117, 20 May 1933, Page 3 (Supplement)

200-YEAR-OLD TORTOISE.

Sopa, the Zoo's famous 200-year-old tortoise, has died of pneumonia, believed to be the result of an attack of influenza. This giant tortoise, a .native of the Galapagos Islands, was the linest and largest specimen of his kind ever seen in the Zoo, for he was between four and five feet long and weighed nearly half a ton. He canxe to the gardens five years ago, having -narrowly escaped a very different fate. Only a few weeks before he had been exhibited outside a restaurant in Valparaiso as an advertisement for soup; and if an Englishman had not happened to pass by and notice that Sopa was a remarkable animal the elephantine tortoise would have been used for soup. At Regent's Park he rapidly built up a reputation for himself. He became both well known and popular, for he was not only a striking and impressive exhibit, but he made himself pleasant by allowing young visitors to sit on his massive shell. He could never be hand-fed by his admirers, for he had a habit of snapping at fingers, and during his early days in the menagerie made himself responsible for several bites. Now the largest tortoise at the Zoo is Marmaduke, who is three feet long and weighs over scwt. He, too, is believed' to be nearing his 200 th birthday; and not only does he allow small visitors to sit on him, but will also give them short rides on his home. Another old Zoo favourite died on the same day as Sopa—Sammy, the yak or grunting ox from Tibet. Sammy had been in the gardens for 19 years, and was the father of the first baby ya}c born in the Zoo after an interval of 50' years. This winter he had suffered badly from rheumatism, and the cold spell at the 'end of January exaggerated his trouble. As he' became completely crippled and . nothing could be done to help him it was decided that it would be kindest to destroy him.

He leaves a mate, Daisy, who is much younger than he. Poor Daisy mourned the passing of her mate, for they had been devoted companions for several years and had never been separated.