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http://www.dagbladet.no/kunnskap/2006/06/25/469820.html
Again, the article is in Norwegian, but you'll see from the pictures why Harriet's demise is headline news. Harriet was a very old tortoise -- 176 years old. Purportedly, she was one of the tortoises Darwin took with him on the Beagle. This has been disputed, but she was the right age and DNA tests show she was from the right area.
Well, at 176, you can hardly begrudge her shuffle off this mortal coil. Wouldn't that be something if she had travelled with Darwin. Wow.
A sidenote--I read "Harriet is dead" and thought "Harriet the Spy?!?" Harriet the Spy is, of course, a fictional character. But I read that book over and over again as a kid (and a few times as an adult). She was very real to me.
Damn! I'm annoyed now I didn't make the trek up to the sunshine coast to see her. i live only two hours away! ARGH!
If you want an ENGLISH version of this news... Look here
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117....html?from=rss
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117....html?from=rss
How cool would it have been to see the tortoise that Darwin took with him. So sad she's finally gone.
Actually Harriet only became the warold's oldest (documented) living creature after this tortoise died. She had a long way to go to catch up! (This story is from March 26th, 2006.
Wow, and here I am with two three-year olds! (Deserts- I think they "only" live to be one hundred.) It's a huge responsibility to care for something with such a long potential lifespan- to keep it healthy, disease-free, properly nourished, and then provide a proper home for it after you die...
Clive of India's tortoise dies, aged 255
By Jenny Booth and agencies
A tortoise brought as a present for Clive of India had died in a zoo at the venerable age of 255.
The giant Aldabra tortoise was one of four brought by British seamen from the Seychelles Islands as gifts to Robert Clive of the British East India Company. Clive died in 1774.
For many years the tortoise had been living in a zoo in the east Indian city of Kolkata, where it was one of the star attractions. It died after a string of illnesses, said Subir Chowdhury, the Kolkata Zoo director.
"Adwaitya (The Only One), who delighted the zoo visitors for 131 years, died yesterday morning," Chowdhury said.
"His shell will be preserved in the zoo. All zoo employees are saddened by his death."
The three other tortoises given as gifts to Clive died soon after they arrived in Kolkata, formerly known as Calcutta, he said.
"Adwaitya spent his early days in Robert Clive’s garden," the zookeeper said. He was later transferred to the Alipore zoo, located in the city’s southern district, after it opened in 1875.
Despite his many years of life, he only became sick eight years ago when an infection was detected in his legs, Chowdhury said. He was successfully treated at that time.
"Our records show the tortoise was born in 1750, but some have claimed he was born in 1705," he said. He added that the zoo will use a scientific method known as carbon-dating to determine his real age.
Adwaitya became ill several months ago after a crack developed around a wound on his chest, Chowdhury said.
The average lifespan of an Aldabra tortoise is well beyond 100 years, according to the website of the Fort Worth Zoo in Texas.
Most of the tortoises are found on Aldabra, an atoll of four large coral islands in the Indian Ocean. The atoll has been protected from human influence and is home to some 152,000 giant tortoises, the world’s largest population of the animal, according to the United Nations world heritage body.
Wow - the things that tortoise has seen! 152,000 giant tortoises - now that would be a sight!