175 year old tortoise

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Harriet was a Galápagos tortoise (Geochelone nigra porteri) who had an estimated age of 175 (1830-2006) years at the time of her death at the Australia Zoo.

John Wickham arrived in Brisbane, Australia with Harriet in 1842. For more than 100 years Harriet called the Brisbane Botanical Gardens home and it was here in the early 1900s that she was given the name Harry, in honour of Harry Oakman, the groundskeeper of the time. She was eventually transferred to Fleay's Fauna Sanctuary on the Gold Coast and as it turns out, it was owner David Fleay who discovered that Harry was, in fact, a Harriet.

Harriet was said to be very good-natured. She loved the attention of humans and enjoyed it when people patted her on the scutes (plates which make up the carapace, or upper shell). Harriet spent a majority of her day napping at her home pond. Her favorite food was hibiscus flowers.

Photo of Harriet with Steve and Terri Irwin © The Washington Post

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