The two enormous tortoises weighing 85 and 76 kilos can be seen on the island of Madagascar along with several species of lemurs.
BIOPARC Valencia, one of the ten best animal parks in the world, offers two new attractions, a new calf of the beautiful Mhorr gazelle and two specimens of Aldabra giant tortoise. Two notable novelties for the importance of its conservation, since both species are on the red list of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and both have also been included in the attractive multispecies enclosures of the Valencian park, in the Sabana area and on the island of Madagascar.
Aldabra giant tortoises.
Aldabra giant tortoises (Aldabrachelys gigantea) are native to the atoll from which it receives its name in the Seychelles archipelago and have been introduced by man to other exotic islands in the Indian Ocean such as Zanzibar, Reunion or Mauritius. Its aboutThe second largest turtle in the world that can weigh up to 250 kg males and 150 kg for females. The dark color of its dome-shaped shell is characteristic, its extremities are short and robust to be able to support the weight of the animal and its neck is disproportionately long to be able to reach food, basically herbs and woody stems of trees. Both its neck and extremities are covered by ossified scales.
They usually live to be 165 years old and their sexual maturity is conditioned by their size rather than their age. The two specimens are a male and a female weighing 76 and 85 kilos respectively that arrived a few months ago from the Krokodille zoo (Denmark) and now, after the acclimatization period, They can now be seen together with different species of lemurs in the enclosure that recreates the forests of the island of Madagascar.
Both species are on the red list of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
On the other hand, just a few weeks ago, the BIOPARC technical team received with great satisfaction a new birth of Mhorr gazelle (Nanger dama mhorr) included as “critically threatened” with extinction on the IUCN red list.
This is the second calf born this year in the Valencian park within the International Conservation Program (EEP) of this species of gazelle that became extinct in nature and is being saved from disappearing thanks to the coordinated efforts of different institutions, which have even taken the step of “returning” it to its habitat, with various reintroduction actions in different areas of North Africa. For a few days now we can see this calf playing with the rest of the members of its pack, without a doubt, a new reason for hope for this species that has become an icon of preservation and example of the importance of the fight against the loss of biodiversity.
