7 baby Aldabra tortoises make public debut at Tulsa Zoo

The Tulsa Zoo is displaying the seven Aldabra tortoises to visitors for the first time since they hatched this summer.

The hatchlings are the first Aldabra tortoises born at the zoo in seven years. The first egg hatched on Mother’s Day, followed by the remaining six over the next several weeks.

The babies, each weighing less than a pound, were kept behind the scenes while zookeepers monitored their growth. Staff weighed them weekly, soaked them several times a week, and provided a carefully chopped diet of vegetables, leafy greens, grass, and small amounts of sweet potato and fruit.

Unlike mammals, Aldabra tortoises do not care for their young. Hatchlings rely on instinct to eat, drink and move independently from birth.

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The Tulsa Zoo’s Aldabra herd also includes longtime residents Big Al and Mo, both over 100 years old. Mo, the largest male, weighs about 450 pounds. Zookeepers said the babies could reach full size in roughly 25 years.

The zoo credited the successful breeding to a seasonal separation of the males and females, simulating natural behavior in the wild. Females spent the summer behind the scenes in a grassy yard before rejoining the males in the main exhibit this fall.