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The giant tortoises at Dickerson Park Zoo are back in their outdoor yard and ready for you to see them. They made their move this morning from their indoor winter home to their warm season outdoor viewing area. Michele Skalicky was there and has this report…
The zoo has four tortoises—all native of the Aldabra Islands in the Seychelles. There are two males—Ichabod and Casey and two females—Maggie and Christine. The first one out—Christine—headed rather quickly to her yard next to the Diversity of Life Building, though she had to be prodded a bit just as she reached the entrance—she may have been intimidated by the large number of kids gathered to watch this March of the Tortoises. The others took their time—as tortoises usually do. Melinda Arnold is marketing director at Dickerson Park Zoo…
"The tortoises are cold-blooded, and right now we don't have a building for them to be viewable by the public in the winter time. We have an off-exhibit building where they have winter quarters, and so in mid October, right before our Halloween Spooktacular event opens, we move them inside for the winter, and they stay in those winter quarters all winter long until about this time in the spring--usually mid april, then we bring them out then because the temperatures are warm enough most of the time, daytime and nighttime, for them to be out."
It’s estimated the tortoises at Dickerson Park Zoo are in their late 40s to early 60s. They can live to 100. There are only two species of giant tortoises left—the Aldabras and the Galopagos.Arnold says, even though they don’t do much, they’re a popular zoo attraction. She thinks it’s because of their size…
"The males can weight 500 to 550 pounds, and the females are about half that size, but kids are fascinated by them, and I really think it's because of their size."
The tortoises will be on display outdoors at the zoo until mid October when they’ll return indoors to spend another winter.There are photos of the tortoises on our website ksmu.org.For KSMU News, I’m Michele Skalicky.
