Philadelphia Zoo welcomes 3 baby Galapagos tortoises to join the "Golden Girls"
The Philadelphia Zoo welcomed three new additions to its animal family this week after a group of male Western Santa Cruz Galapagos tortoises hatched.
The boys join the — four female tortoises hatched earlier this year who were named Dorothy, Rose, Blanche and Sophia after a community vote.
The first of the boys began to hatch on April 14.
All seven babies are the offspring of female Mommy and male Abrazzo, the zoo's two oldest residents. Mommy is also considered the oldest first-time mom of her species. She's been at the zoo for more than nine decades.
The sex of these tortoises is determined by the temperature during incubation, which the zoo can influence. Temperatures below 82.4 degrees produce males, and conditions above 85.1 degrees produce females. The eggs hatch after four to eight months.
Mommy laid the eggs that have hatched so far in November 2024, and staff at the zoo chose to incubate some at a temperature that would produce males and some at a temperature that would produce females.
All of the babies are staying in the Reptile and Amphibian House for now.
Nine more eggs that Mommy laid in January are still developing and could hatch soon, according to the zoo.
"Mommy arrived at the Zoo in 1932, meaning anyone that has visited the Zoo for the last 92 years has likely seen her," President and CEO Jo-Elle Mogerman said in a statement in April. "Philadelphia Zoo's vision is that those hatchlings will be a part of a thriving population of Galapagos tortoises on our healthy planet 100 years from now."
Western Santa Cruz Galapagos tortoises are critically endangered, and these babies are part of a program by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums that is working to keep species like this alive.
"This success has been a years-long process from bringing Abrazzo to the Zoo in 2020, to fundraising for nesting materials in 2021 and introducing Mommy and Abrazzo in 2022," Vice President of Animal Well-Being Rachel Metz said in a statement. "Our sincerest gratitude for this success goes to the passionate and diligent work by experts in the AZA community and the entire Philadelphia Zoo team, including the countless keepers that kept Mommy healthy and thriving over the last 93 years."
The zoo is to celebrate the tortoises and raise money for its animal care fund.
