A Remarkable Life: Tortoise Dies at 250

[Brownian Motion]

The New York Times

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March 24, 2006

A Remarkable Life: Tortoise Dies at 250

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 2:57 p.m. ET

CALCUTTA, India (AP) -- One of the world's oldest creatures, a giant tortoise believed to have been about 250 years old, has died in the Calcutta zoo where it spent more than half its long life.

Addwaita, which means ''the one and only'' in the local Bengali language, was one of four Aldabra tortoises brought to India by British sailors in the 18th century.

Zoo officials say he was a gift for Lord Robert Clive of the East India Company, who was instrumental in establishing British colonial rule in India, before he returned to England in 1767.

Long after the other three tortoises died, Addwaita continued to thrive, living in Clive's garden before being moved to the zoo in 1875.

''According to records in the zoo, the age of the giant tortoise, Addwaita, who died on Wednesday, would be 250 years approximately,'' said zoo director Subir Chowdhury.

That would have made him much older than the world's oldest documented living animal: Harriet, a 176-year-old Galapagos tortoise who lives at the Australia Zoo north of Brisbane, according to the zoo's Web site. She was taken from the island of Isla Santa Cruz by Charles Darwin in the 19th century.

Aldabra tortoises come from the Aldabra atoll in the Seychelle islands in the Indian Ocean, and often live to more than 100 years of age. Males can weigh up to 550 pounds.

Addwaita, the zoo's biggest attraction, had been unwell for the last few days, said local Forest Minister Jogesh Burman,

''We were keeping a watch on him. When the zoo keepers went to his enclosure on Wednesday they found him dead,'' Burman said.

[Free For All]

So he would have been born around 1750! Wow, that is amazing!

"Slow and steady" indeed.

[Alexander]

Think of what changes that tortoise has seen in its lifetime...it staggers the imagination. When it was born the United States didn't even exist. Britain was the world's greatest colonial power. Movies, recorded music, television, the telephone, computers...all of the things we take for granted were invented during this being's lifetime...and it probably wasn't aware of any of it. It's kind of humbling...

[Eric]

Think of what changes that tortoise has seen in its lifetime...it staggers the imagination. When it was born the United States didn't even exist. Britain was the world's greatest colonial power. Movies, recorded music, television, the telephone, computers...all of the things we take for granted were invented during this being's lifetime...and it probably wasn't aware of any of it. It's kind of humbling...

Quite ...

[sidewinder]

What really staggered me was a comment in one of the papers that when this tortoise was born around 1750 the Battle of Culloden (last major land battle in mainland Britain between England and Scotland) was still very recent history. Jeez !

[sidewinder]

Britain was the world's greatest colonial power.

No change there then !

[7/4]

Think of what changes that tortoise has seen in its lifetime...it staggers the imagination. When it was born the United States didn't even exist. Britain was the world's greatest colonial power. Movies, recorded music, television, the telephone, computers...all of the things we take for granted were invented during this being's lifetime...and it probably wasn't aware of any of it. It's kind of humbling...

And he probably noticed none of it.

[Hardbopjazz]

He could have been older too from what I read since he was already a nice size when found.

[.:.impossible]

What an awesome creature. Humbling indeed. I certainly hope the tortoise acts as spokesperson for our galaxy when/if we are ever contacted by extra-terrestrials. Lord knows the human race is full of shit.

The tortoise was given as a gift from one man to another. I hope that at least one of them realized the insignificance of the gesture.

[Randy Twizzle]

I understand that he really had slowed down during the last 125 years.

[clifford_thornton]

What's next? Taxidermy or soup?

[sidewinder]

What's next? Taxidermy or soup?

Radio-carbon dating !