Birmingham Blues

Imagine the stories Addwaita could tell; he was thought to be 250 years old at his death.

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.

[Calcutta] 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.

The other three tortoises died, but Addwaita lived in Clive’s garden until he was was moved to the Calcutta Zoo in 1785. He blows away the record for longest living animal, previously held by Harriet, a Galapagos tortoise who has made it to the advanced age of 176. Addwaita was an Aldabra tortoise. Aldabras come from the Seychelle islands, and they frequently live more than 100 years.

Hmmm. Maybe plastic surgeons should throw out the botox and start studying these tortoises instead.

This entry was posted on Friday, March 24th, 2006 at 11:13 am and is filed under Miscellaneous Cool Stuff. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.