Harriet – Charles Darwin’s turtle

Famous are not only people, but also animals. The elephant tortoise Harietta (some sources call her Henrietta) won her fame by living a very long life. And also by the fact that it was brought to the UK by the world-famous scientist and naturalist Charles Darwin.

Harriet’s life

This reptile was born on one of the Galapagos Islands. In 1835, it and two other individuals of the same species were brought to the UK by Charles Darwin himself. Back then, turtles were the size of a plate. Offhand they were given five or six years. That famous turtle, which will be discussed later, was named Harry, because they considered her a male.

However, in 1841, all three individuals were transported to Australia, where they were identified in the city botanical garden in Brisbane. The reptiles lived there for 111 years.

Following the closure of the Brisbane Botanic Gardens, the reptiles have been released into a coastal conservation area in Australia. This happened in 1952.

And 8 years later, Charles Darwin’s turtle was met by the director of the Hawaiian Zoo in the reserve. And then it was revealed that Harry was not even Harry at all, but Henrietta.

Very soon after this, Henrietta moved to the Australian Zoo. Two of its relatives could not be found in the reserve.

Is this the same Harriet that Darwin himself brought?

This is where opinions differ. The documents of the turtle Darwin Harietta were safely lost back in the twenties. The people to whom the great scientist personally handed over the turtles (and this was, I remember, already in 1835!), Have already departed to another world and had no opportunity to confirm anything.

However, the question of the age of the giant reptile worried many. Therefore, in 1992, a genetic analysis of Harriet was nevertheless carried out. The result was stunning!

He confirmed that:

• Harrietta was born in the Galapagos Islands;
• she is at least 162 years old.

But! On the island inhabited by representatives of the subspecies to which Harriet belongs, Darwin has never been.

So there is a lot of confusion in this story:

• if it is another turtle, how did it end up in the zoo;
• if this is a gift from Darwin, then where did he get it;
• if the scientist really found Harriet where he had been, how did she end up on that island.

The last birthday of the centenarian

After DNA analysis, they decided to take 1930 as the starting point for Harriet’s age. They even calculated the approximate date of her birth – it is useless for such a celebrity to be without a birthday. Henrietta happily ate a pink cake made from hibiscus flowers in honor of her 175th birthday.

By that time, the long-liver had grown up a little: from a turtle the size of a plate, she turned into a real giant a little less than a round dining table. And Harrietta began to weigh one and a half centners.

Despite the remarkable care of attentive zoo workers and the love of visitors, the life of a long-lived turtle was cut short the next year. She died on June 23, 2006. Zoo veterinarian John Hanger diagnosed the reptile with heart failure.

This statement means that if it were not for the disease, the elephant tortoise could have lived longer than 175 years. But how old exactly? We don’t know this yet.