Red and Blue traveled to Prague Zoo has on October 22 last year from Casela Nature Park on the island of Mauritius. On arrival they weighed 10 to 13 kg and due to its size it is not possible to include among adults inhabiting the pavilion large turtles, who might easily crush. The oldest inhabitants of the pavilion and also the Prague Zoo, the male giant tortoises Eberhard, weighs 230 kg. Weight adult female turtles giant reaches 130 kg, males it can be over 200 kg. The exact age of the Red and Blue is unknown, according to their weight, we conclude that they may be about 10 years old; they can live to a respectable 150 to 200 years.
Upon arrival last year it took the Red and Blue roughly four months to adapt to the new environment. Since then successfully thrive, and after less than a year nearly doubled their weight. Therefore, we have now decided to combine it with other turtles inhabiting the pavilion large turtles. Despite our initial concerns was their integration without problems, mainly due to other group members who treat them very socially and adapt to the new environment to help them. Red and Blue began the next day to eat, they are very curious and actively explore new environments pavilion. They familiarize themselves with its other members, and compared to them due to their age, very playful. Visitors can constantly observe the movement, only in the pool of exposures is not yet dare.
Giant Tortoise is the last of the dozen or so species of giant tortoise originally inhabited the islands in the Indian Ocean. He lives on a remote atoll of Aldabra, thus partially saved from discharging to the 16th-19th centuries big turtles affected. Today from his home island, where it has over 100 years of strictly protected, planted to other islands, on which formerly inhabited by other species. Therefore, it is possible to meet with her today and the Seychelles, Maskarénách and elsewhere. Giant tortoises are herbivores and gets by with very poor vegetation. For their ecosystems of islands they are very important, because the seeds of certain trees and shrubs without passing through their digestive tract can not germinate.
Source: tz Prague Zoo
Photo to tz: Petr Velenský
