255-year-old tortoise dies in Kolkata zoo

news.yahoo ^ | March 23

[lunarbicep]

Adwaita, the nearly 255-year-old giant tortoise that roamed the Alipore Zoo here, has died.

The Aldabra-Seychelles tortoise had not been well for the past few days. It was found dead by zookeepers Wednesday when they went to his enclosure with medicine.

'He had developed a wound on his chest. He was not keeping well. We were keeping a close watch on him,' West Bengal Forest Minister Jogesh Burman said, mourning the death of Adwaita, meaning the peerless one or the only one.

In deference to his more than two-and-half-century's existence, this grand old resident of Kolkata was named Adwaita by Burman last year and given more green space to amble along.

The 250-kg male was a vegetarian. He was brought to the city 255 years ago by the British colonialists.

Adwaita was brought to the zoo 130 years ago after spending years in the garden of Robert Clive (1725-1774), the victor of the Battle of Plassey in 1757 who consolidated the British empire in India.

When the zoo came up 130 years ago, the tortoise was shifted to the premises.

Since then, the dark grey land tortoise has lived in a small, rocky enclosure.

Alipore Zoo director Subir Chowdhury said there were documents to prove the tortoise is about 255 years old.

'A tortoise of this species can live up to 320 years according to available records. He may even be over 300 years,' Burman said.

If only the tortoise could speak, what a tale he would have to tell!

[pleasedontzotme]

How'd you like to get stuck behind THAT funeral?

[SunkenCiv]

There's an anecdote about a long-lived tortoise at the beginning of P.K. Dick's "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?"

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Queen Salote introduces her guests to the oldest inhabitant of her kingdom - the venerable tortoise believed to have been brought as a gift by Captain Cook when he visited these "Friendly Islands" in 1777 (1953; the tortoise died in 1965)

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