Deprecated: Constant FILTER_SANITIZE_STRING is deprecated in /home1/wildfac1/public_html/wp-content/plugins/wordpress-seo/src/conditionals/third-party/elementor-edit-conditional.php on line 22

Deprecated: Constant FILTER_SANITIZE_STRING is deprecated in /home1/wildfac1/public_html/wp-content/plugins/wordpress-seo/src/conditionals/third-party/elementor-edit-conditional.php on line 28

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home1/wildfac1/public_html/wp-content/plugins/wordpress-seo/src/conditionals/third-party/elementor-edit-conditional.php:22) in /home1/wildfac1/public_html/wp-includes/rest-api/class-wp-rest-server.php on line 1723

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home1/wildfac1/public_html/wp-content/plugins/wordpress-seo/src/conditionals/third-party/elementor-edit-conditional.php:22) in /home1/wildfac1/public_html/wp-includes/rest-api/class-wp-rest-server.php on line 1723

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home1/wildfac1/public_html/wp-content/plugins/wordpress-seo/src/conditionals/third-party/elementor-edit-conditional.php:22) in /home1/wildfac1/public_html/wp-includes/rest-api/class-wp-rest-server.php on line 1723

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home1/wildfac1/public_html/wp-content/plugins/wordpress-seo/src/conditionals/third-party/elementor-edit-conditional.php:22) in /home1/wildfac1/public_html/wp-includes/rest-api/class-wp-rest-server.php on line 1723

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home1/wildfac1/public_html/wp-content/plugins/wordpress-seo/src/conditionals/third-party/elementor-edit-conditional.php:22) in /home1/wildfac1/public_html/wp-includes/rest-api/class-wp-rest-server.php on line 1723

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home1/wildfac1/public_html/wp-content/plugins/wordpress-seo/src/conditionals/third-party/elementor-edit-conditional.php:22) in /home1/wildfac1/public_html/wp-includes/rest-api/class-wp-rest-server.php on line 1723

Deprecated: strtolower(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in /home1/wildfac1/public_html/wp-content/plugins/wordpress-seo/src/generators/schema-generator.php on line 186

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home1/wildfac1/public_html/wp-content/plugins/wordpress-seo/src/conditionals/third-party/elementor-edit-conditional.php:22) in /home1/wildfac1/public_html/wp-includes/rest-api/class-wp-rest-server.php on line 1723

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home1/wildfac1/public_html/wp-content/plugins/wordpress-seo/src/conditionals/third-party/elementor-edit-conditional.php:22) in /home1/wildfac1/public_html/wp-includes/rest-api/class-wp-rest-server.php on line 1723
{"id":2998,"date":"2010-09-01T00:00:01","date_gmt":"2010-09-01T07:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wild-facts.com\/?p=2998"},"modified":"2015-01-15T20:08:51","modified_gmt":"2015-01-16T01:08:51","slug":"wild-fact-733-one-for-the-ages-aldabra-giant-tortoise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.wild-facts.com\/2010\/wild-fact-733-one-for-the-ages-aldabra-giant-tortoise\/","title":{"rendered":"Wild Fact #733 – One for the Ages – Aldabra Giant Tortoise"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n

\"\"<\/a>
Photo by: Muhammad Mahdi Karim<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Today we are all in for a very special treat.\u00a0 I am sending everyone on a trip to the exotic islands of Aldabra in the Indian Ocean.\u00a0 I know!\u00a0 I am pretty excited too.\u00a0 We are taking a quick trip there to learn about the Aldabra Giant Tortoise which just happens to be one of the largest tortoise species in the world. They are also one of the oldest. I will tell you how big and how old in a second as I want to keep the suspense up for a bit.<\/p>\n

These wickedly, cool reptiles can be found in herds (or individually) hanging out in the grasslands or swampy areas of the aforementioned islands.\u00a0 All right, I can’t handle the suspense any longer.\u00a0 The Aldabra Giant Tortoise is approximately 1 m (3′) long and can weigh up to an astonishing 250 kg (550 lbs).\u00a0 Believe it or not there is an Aldabra Giant Tortoise at the Fort Worth Zoological Park that weighs about 790 lbs.\u00a0 I want to put this into perspective for everyone, a Grizzly Bear will usually weigh about 500 lbs with the larger bears being about 700 lbs.\u00a0 Who would have thought that a Tortoise could weigh as much as a Grizzly Bear?\u00a0 The Aldabra Giant Tortoise has a very large, domed shape carapace (shell) which is supported by strong, stocky legs. I am sure this large shell contributes to a good chunk of their weight.\u00a0 This particular turtle also has a very long neck which allows them to feed on leaves approximately 1 m (3′) off the ground. Personally I am starting to think they are more closely related to a Giraffe than any other animal species.\u00a0 Obviously I am kidding since the Giraffe is much heavier and much taller.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Giddy Up!!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So we now know that these Giant Tortoise species could probably use a few months on the Atkins diet.\u00a0 Actually their diet of leaves and grass is probably pretty close to the Atkins diet.\u00a0 Let’s find out just how long these giant beasts hang around for.\u00a0 It is thought that many of these Tortoise species are over 200 years old.\u00a0 The oldest living Aldabra Giant Tortoise was 255 years old and lived from 1750-2005.\u00a0 I would like to put this amazing stat into perspective as well.\u00a0 This particular tortoise named Adwaita lived to see the Industrial Revolution, Napoleonic Wars, American Revolution, War of 1812, two World Wars, the invention of the steam engine, the first flight and of course experienced some of the greats such as Darwin, Mozart, Beethoven and one of my favourites, Thomas Edison. Not to mention that the human population when Adwaita was born was probably under 1 billion people worldwide, which of course is about 7 times lower than it is now. I would have loved to have had a conversation with that Tortoise.<\/p>\n

Aldabra Giant Tortoise<\/strong> – This particular species of Tortoise had some very powerful friends, such as Charles Darwin who managed to create a wildlife preserve by the end of the 19th Century so these timeless creatures would be protected.\u00a0 I wonder if our good friend Adwaita helped with that movement?<\/p>\n

That is all for today folks.\u00a0 I hope you enjoyed the unusual history lesson. Enjoy the remainder of your beautiful day.<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/a>
Photo from Wikimedia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today we are all in for a very special treat.\u00a0 I am sending everyone on a trip to the exotic islands of Aldabra in the Indian Ocean.\u00a0 I know!\u00a0 I am pretty excited too.\u00a0 We are taking a quick trip there to learn about the Aldabra Giant Tortoise which just happens to be one of the largest tortoise species in the world. They are also one of the oldest. I will tell you how big and how old in a second as I want to keep the suspense up for a bit. These wickedly, cool reptiles can be found in <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3002,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4024,52],"tags":[1124,1126,348,1125,4025,4114,328],"yoast_head":"\nFacts about the Aldabra Giant Tortoise<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn just how heavy and how old these amazing creatures are. You would be surprised to find out what one of these tortoise species have witnessed in their lives.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wild-facts.com\/2010\/wild-fact-733-one-for-the-ages-aldabra-giant-tortoise\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Facts about the Aldabra Giant Tortoise\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Learn just how heavy and how old these amazing creatures are. You would be surprised to find out what one of these tortoise species have witnessed in their lives.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.wild-facts.com\/2010\/wild-fact-733-one-for-the-ages-aldabra-giant-tortoise\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Animal Facts For Kids | Wild Facts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-09-01T07:00:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-01-16T01:08:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.wild-facts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/800px-Aldabra_Giant_Tortoise_Geochelone_gigantea_edit1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"533\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Nathan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Nathan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wild-facts.com\/2010\/wild-fact-733-one-for-the-ages-aldabra-giant-tortoise\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.wild-facts.com\/2010\/wild-fact-733-one-for-the-ages-aldabra-giant-tortoise\/\",\"name\":\"Facts about the Aldabra Giant Tortoise\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wild-facts.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2010-09-01T07:00:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-01-16T01:08:51+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wild-facts.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4c5129f3f0129e9989a2b850bb2f3cc4\"},\"description\":\"Learn just how heavy and how old these amazing creatures are. You would be surprised to find out what one of these tortoise species have witnessed in their lives.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.wild-facts.com\/2010\/wild-fact-733-one-for-the-ages-aldabra-giant-tortoise\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wild-facts.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.wild-facts.com\/\",\"name\":\"Animal Facts For Kids | Wild Facts\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.wild-facts.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wild-facts.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4c5129f3f0129e9989a2b850bb2f3cc4\",\"name\":\"Nathan\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wild-facts.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/0.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0e126172d6ffd6e322bd2cea79f2ad95?s=96&d=wavatar&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/0.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0e126172d6ffd6e322bd2cea79f2ad95?s=96&d=wavatar&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Nathan\"},\"description\":\"I am a digital nomad who enjoys travelling around the globe while inspiring others to leave their comfort zone and improve their life. I have a passion for self-development and of course everything related to our natural ecosystems.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.wild-facts.com\"],\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.wild-facts.com\/author\/wildfac1\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Facts about the Aldabra Giant Tortoise","description":"Learn just how heavy and how old these amazing creatures are. You would be surprised to find out what one of these tortoise species have witnessed in their lives.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.wild-facts.com\/2010\/wild-fact-733-one-for-the-ages-aldabra-giant-tortoise\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Facts about the Aldabra Giant Tortoise","og_description":"Learn just how heavy and how old these amazing creatures are. You would be surprised to find out what one of these tortoise species have witnessed in their lives.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.wild-facts.com\/2010\/wild-fact-733-one-for-the-ages-aldabra-giant-tortoise\/","og_site_name":"Animal Facts For Kids | Wild Facts","article_published_time":"2010-09-01T07:00:01+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-01-16T01:08:51+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":533,"url":"https:\/\/www.wild-facts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/800px-Aldabra_Giant_Tortoise_Geochelone_gigantea_edit1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Nathan","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Nathan","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.wild-facts.com\/2010\/wild-fact-733-one-for-the-ages-aldabra-giant-tortoise\/","url":"https:\/\/www.wild-facts.com\/2010\/wild-fact-733-one-for-the-ages-aldabra-giant-tortoise\/","name":"Facts about the Aldabra Giant Tortoise","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.wild-facts.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2010-09-01T07:00:01+00:00","dateModified":"2015-01-16T01:08:51+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.wild-facts.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4c5129f3f0129e9989a2b850bb2f3cc4"},"description":"Learn just how heavy and how old these amazing creatures are. You would be surprised to find out what one of these tortoise species have witnessed in their lives.","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.wild-facts.com\/2010\/wild-fact-733-one-for-the-ages-aldabra-giant-tortoise\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.wild-facts.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.wild-facts.com\/","name":"Animal Facts For Kids | Wild Facts","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.wild-facts.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.wild-facts.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4c5129f3f0129e9989a2b850bb2f3cc4","name":"Nathan","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.wild-facts.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"http:\/\/0.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0e126172d6ffd6e322bd2cea79f2ad95?s=96&d=wavatar&r=g","contentUrl":"http:\/\/0.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0e126172d6ffd6e322bd2cea79f2ad95?s=96&d=wavatar&r=g","caption":"Nathan"},"description":"I am a digital nomad who enjoys travelling around the globe while inspiring others to leave their comfort zone and improve their life. I have a passion for self-development and of course everything related to our natural ecosystems.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.wild-facts.com"],"url":"http:\/\/www.wild-facts.com\/author\/wildfac1\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.wild-facts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2998"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.wild-facts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.wild-facts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.wild-facts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.wild-facts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2998"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.wild-facts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2998\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.wild-facts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3002"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.wild-facts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.wild-facts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.wild-facts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}