A GIANT TORTOISE

Evening Post, Volume CXIX, Issue 134, 8 June 1935, Page 6

A GIANT TORTOISE

FOUND IN LONDON STORE

An arrival of unusual interest at the London Zoo recently was that of a giant land tortoise—a member of a fast-dwindling race. The newcomer was discovered by chance by one of the Zoo officials in an Oxford Street store, where it had apparently been something of a drug in the market for a considerable time, says the "NewsChronicle."

The specimen measures over 3ft in length, and its weight is< approximately 2cwt. It has been named Gordon, not in honour of the famous military leader, but after the captain of industry who rules over the departmental store from which the tortoise emanated.

Less than 250 years ago tortoises of gigantic size were abundant in many islands in the Old World (Madagascar, Aldabra, Seychelles), and the New (Galapagos), but at the present day only a few survive as indigenous forms in Aldabra and the Galapagos. With the advent of man they were used for provisioning passing vessels, and in the Galapagos their numbers were already greatly diminished at the time of Darwin's visit in 1835..

Tortoises attain a greater age than any other animal, and, according to Lord Rothschild, an acknowledged authority on these animals, some of his examples in the Tring Museum, and weighing over 5001b, must have been nearly three centuries old when scientific claims put an end to their existence.

Several outstanding examples of long-lived tortoises are on record. One, for instance, that was living until quite recently, shared Napoleon's exile on St. Helena. This specimen originated from Aldabra, but the date of its exile from that island when it was already fully grown is not known.

Another specimen that now graces the reptile gallery at South Kensington was definitely known to be over 150 years old when it died, a few years ago, in Mauritius, having spent the latter part of its life in the grounds of the artillery mess at Port Louis. This tortoise was taken from the French in 1810, and was actually mentioned in the Treaty of Paris of 1814, when Mau? ritius was handed over to Great Britain. ' i