Galapagos turtles at the Philadelphia zoo become parents for the first time at almost 100

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (AP) – A pair of in critical dangerGalapagos turtles, almost 100 years old, at the Philadelphia Zoo, have become new parents.

On Friday, in an announcement, the zoo said that he was “delighted” at the arrivals of the four newborns, a first in his history over 150 years old. Babies are the offspring of the mother and male Abrazzo, the two oldest zoo residents.

The quartet is kept behind the scenes inside the house of reptiles and amphibians for the moment, “eat and grow appropriately,” said the zoo. They weigh between 70 and 80 grams, on the weight of a chicken egg. The first egg hatched on February 27 and even more that could still hatch are watched by the Zoo animal protection team.

“This is an important step in the history of the Philadelphia zoo, and we could not be happier to share this news with our city, our region and the world,” said the president and chief executive, Jo-Elle Mogerman.

“Mom arrived at the zoo in 1932, which means that anyone who has visited the zoo for 92 years has probably seen it,” she said. “The vision of the Philadelphia zoo is that these newborns will be part of a flourishing population of galapagos turtles on our healthy planet in 100 years.”

Mom is considered one of the most genetically precious galapagos turtles in the survival plan for the association of zoos and aquariums. She is also the first older mother of Western species in Santa Cruz Galapagos. The last cover of such turtles to hatch in an accredited zoo in AZA took place in 2019 at the Riverbanks Zoo and Garden in Columbia, South Carolina. The San Diego Zoo, the Miami Zoo and the Honolulu Zoo also have reproductive pairs.

The zoo provides for public debut of newborns on April 23, as well as a denomination competition.

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