THE TELEGRAPH (Calcutta, India) 28 March 06 Marine turtle pair to replace Adwaitya

Alipore zoo plans to bring in two marine turtles from Orissa to replace Adwaitya, the over 200-year-old Aldabra tortoise that died last Wednesday.

The suggestion came from a board member during a meeting on Monday to mourn the death of the tortoise.

Adwaitya had been one of the attractions of the zoo since his arrival in 1875. The shell on the lower part of the tortoise’s body had developed a crack a few months ago. It was repaired subsequently.

The post-mortem suggested that Adwaitya died of old age and his liver and kidneys were not functioning properly. The carapace will be preserved in the zoo, primarily for the benefit of zoology students.

“Given the new regulations, it is next to impossible to get a giant tortoise of the same species as Adwaitya’s. If we can get a couple of turtles from the Orissa coast and keep them in the same enclosure, it will benefit the zoo,” said board member S.R. Chakraborty.

Former additional principal chief conservator of forest Pranabesh Sanyal, however, sounded a note of warning. Marine turtles cannot live on land and their habitat must be recreated to keep them in captivity, he cautioned.

“We need to provide marine turtles with brackish (saline) water and sand beds, where they can bask in the sun,” pointed out Sanyal.

The issue of poor infrastructure in the zoo was taken up at the meeting. Veterinarian Shivaji Bhattacharya said: “After Adwaitya developed a crack on the lower part of the shell, rodents used to gnaw at the wound. This made our task difficult. We could cure the wound only after he was shifted to an enclosure free of rats.”

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1060328/asp/calcutta/story_6021324.asp



DECCAN HERALD (Bangalore, India) 26 March 06 Tortoise ends journey, zoo-keeper shattered

Returning to work after his normal day off on Thursday, on Friday he did not visit the enclosure he had been visiting everyday for over two decades. Not that Biswanath Ram can afford to relax now. Memories of Adwaita would not make him do so.

Biswanath is 50 and Adwaita was over 250 years’ old when death came calling on the latter, bringing to an end their 26-year-old friendship.

But it’s a world where mush has no place. Alipore zoo authorities will shortly change his routine and allot new duties following the death of the old giant tortoise on Wednesday.

Standing in front of the empty enclosure, Biswanath struggled to fight back tears: “I will no longer have to shove my hand beneath his shell, tickle, coax and cajole him into taking his food.”

It wasn’t an easy thing as the mighty tortoise would always refuse to poke his face out of his shell to eat the food, particularly during winter when the 255-year-old reptile would often hibernate.

“Even during winter, I was at his enclosure within 5:00 in the morning with a bucketful of vegetables, carrots, fruits and Bengal gram,” recalled Biswanath.

However, what has been mortally paining Adwaita’s keeper is the fact that there is none now to wait for him to be led to the tiny water pool for a drink.

“I just can’t believe that I don’t have to lead Adwaita to the pool for a drink any more,” Biswanath sobbed uncontrollably.

In view of his old age, it required a great effort for the creature to be taken to the pool for the regular drink and none except Biswanath could do this job.

“On Tuesday too I fed him his evening meal and left for home as usual and nothing was suspect,” he said.

Next morning when Biswanath returned with the breakfast, he was stunned as he noticed the reptile motionless, bending on the drinking pool.

The creature, apparently, had breathed his last while attempting to drink water.

“I could barely guess what had happened as Adwaita would never go there without me,” Biswanath covered his face in between his knees.

The authorities have decided to preserve the skeletal remains of Adwaita in the zoo.

http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/mar262006/national1917102006325.asp



THE HINDU (New Delhi, India) 24 March 06 Kolkata's Aldabra Giant dies (Marcus Dam)

Photo: Veteran: The Aldabra Giant Tortoise. (Sushanta Patronobish)

Kolkata: Addyaita, a male Aldabra Giant Tortoise estimated to be about 260 years old, died at the Alipore Zoological Garden here on Wednesday. It was considered to be "among the oldest animals in the country."

"The giant shell with a circumference of about 13 feet is being preserved and will be on show at the Natural History Museum that is expected to come up in the zoological garden," Subir K. Chaudhuri, Director, Alipore Zoological Garden, told The Hindu on Thursday. "A post-mortem shows that the tortoise died of hepato-renal failure due to senility leading to ascites," he said.

Addyaita, meaning "peerless," was one of the four tortoises brought to the zoo when it was set up in 1875, from the menagerie at Latbagan in Barrackpore, West Bengal, established by Lord Wellesley in 1800. Three of them died over the last 131 years. The surviving specimen was shifted to a secluded enclosure, to protect it from being disturbed by visitors, till it was moved again to an octagonal enclosure in 1994.

"As the growth rate of these tortoises is very slow and it was a full grown adult at the time of its arrival in the zoo, its age might have been 100 years given its size," he said.

The Aldabra Giant, whose numbers are dwindling, are found in Aldabra and Seychelles Island in the Indian Ocean and differ from the other giant tortoises found in the Galapagos Island in the Pacific because of its small neck place on the carapace. "They have the longest longevity among all vertebrates," Mr. Chaudhuri said.

http://www.hindu.com/2006/03/24/stories/2006032401162400.htm



THE GUARDIAN (London, UK) 24 March 06 Tortoise Believed to Be 250 Dies in India

Calcutta, India (AP): One of the world's oldest creatures, a giant tortoise believed to have been about 250 years old, has died in the Calcutta zoo where it spent more than half its long life.

Addwaita, which means ``the one and only'' in the local Bengali language, was one of four Aldabra tortoises brought to India by British sailors in the 18th century.

Zoo officials say he was a gift for Lord Robert Clive of the East India Company, who was instrumental in establishing British colonial rule in India, before he returned to England in 1767.

Long after the other three tortoises died, Addwaita continued to thrive, living in Clive's garden before being moved to the zoo in 1875.

``According to records in the zoo, the age of the giant tortoise, Addwaita, who died on Wednesday, would be 250 years approximately,'' said zoo director Subir Chowdhury.

That would have made him much older than the world's oldest documented living animal: Harriet, a 176-year-old Galapagos tortoise who lives at the Australia Zoo north of Brisbane, according to the zoo's Web site. She was taken from the island of Isla Santa Cruz by Charles Darwin in the 19th century.

Aldabra tortoises come from the Aldabra atoll in the Seychelle islands in the Indian Ocean, and often live to more than 100 years of age. Males can weigh up to 550 pounds.

Addwaita, the zoo's biggest attraction, had been unwell for the last few days, said local Forest Minister Jogesh Burman,

``We were keeping a watch on him. When the zoo keepers went to his enclosure on Wednesday they found him dead,'' Burman said.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-5708182,00.html

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