For more than 140 years, Gramma has been the big star of the San Diego Zoo (USA). The giant Galapagos tortoise died on Thursday (20/11), after suffering from a worsening age-related bone problem. After being closely monitored by experts, she was eventually euthanized to avoid suffering. The foundation confirmed the loss on social media and highlighted the animal’s importance to millions of visitors.
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Officials described Gramma as a “shy” and “gentle” animal. In a statement to the Daily Mail website, the zoo said she “marked the lives of countless people in San Diego and served as a great ambassador for reptile conservation.”
Coming from the Galapagos Islands, Gramma passed through the Bronx Zoo in the United States, before arriving in San Diego, between 1928 and 1931, where he was part of one of the largest collections of rare and endangered species on the planet.
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Nicknamed the “Zoo Queen,” Gramma fought two world wars, saw more than 20 American presidents and was already more than 30 years old when she accompanied the creation of her zoo in California.
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Giant Galapagos tortoises can live over 100 years in the wild and about twice that in captivity
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Many visitors commented on social media about the first time they visited Grandma’s when they were young and the opportunity to return years later with their children
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Galapagos tortoises have 15 subspecies, three of which are considered extinct
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As the world changed around her, she charmed visitors with her sweet and shy personality.
San Diego Zoo/Facebook
His death sparked tributes from visitors who shared their memories on social media. According to information from CBS News, reports range from people who came in the 1960s to ride on her frame — something unthinkable today — to those who fed her romaine lettuce decades ago and described her as a “gentle soul.”
“My heart is breaking,” wrote one visitor who met her on a VIP visit this year.
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Giant Galapagos tortoises can be more than a century old and weigh more than 250 kilograms. The species has 15 subspecies, three of which are now extinct, and is the target of breeding programs that since 1965 have allowed thousands of individuals to be reintroduced into the wild.
Despite Gramma’s impressive lifespan, there are longer-lived records, such as Harriet, from Australia Zoo, who lived to be 175 years old. However, the Gramma painting remains among the oldest works on display in institutions around the world.
With her simple habits, she loved sunbathing, shallow waterholes, lettuce, and cactus fruits. To honor her, the San Diego Zoo suggested that the public commemorate her with a “hearty, fruit-filled salad” — an affectionate gesture to bid farewell to the turtle that has for decades been part of the city’s history.