Male Aldabra tortoises average a 122cm (4ft) carapace (shell) length and up to 250kg (550lbs) or more, females average a 91cm (3ft) carapace length and up to 159kg (350lbs). They are the largest land tortoise, dark grey to black in colour with a highly domed thick shell and very long neck. Their life span is believed to surpass 100 years. It is believed that tortoises are the longest lived of all animals.

You may have heard that you can tell the age of a tortoise by counting the number of rings on its shell, this is not true, the only way you can tell how old a tortoise is, is if you were there when it hatched.

Females lay between 9-25 eggs, of which less than half are fertile. The wild population is restricted to the Aldabra Atoll (a group of coral islands in the Indian Ocean). There are many different habitats on these islands where tortoises are found such as: scrub, mangrove swamp, coastal dunes and grasslands.

Aldabra tortoises eat mainly vegetation and small invertebrates. Seeds pass through the tortoise’s digestive tract and eventually become food for many other species.

The Aldabra tortoise fills a similar role to the one occupied by elephants in Africa and Asia. As with elephants, they are the main consumers of vegetation and have been known to knock over small trees and shrubs to obtain nutritious leaves. This makes pathways and clearings within the forest for other animals.