Philadelphia Zoo’s 100-Year-old Galapagos Tortoises Hatch 4 Babies–to Help Ensure the Species’ Survival

Hatchlings of Western Santa Cruz Galapagos tortoise Credit: Philadelphia ZooThe Philadelphia Zoo is overjoyed to announce the hatching of four critically endangered Galapagos tortoises for the first time in the Zoo’s 150 year history.The parents, Western Santa Cruz tortoises, are the Zoo’s two oldest residents, each estimated to be around 100 years old.Additionally, the female named Mommy is considered one of the most genetically valuable of her species in the Survival Plan of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). She is also the oldest first-time mom of her species.The hatchlings are currently eating and growing normally “behind-the-scenes” inside the Reptile and Amphibian House. The first one hatched on February 27 and the animal care team is still monitoring more eggs that could hatch in the coming weeks.They will make their public debut on April 23, which is the 93rd anniversary of Mommy’s arrival at the Zoo.The babies are part of the AZA breeding program to ensure the survival of this species, which are listed as “critically endangered”.The last clutch of Western Santa Cruz tortoises to hatch in an AZA accredited zoo was in 2019 at Riverbanks Zoo in South Carolina. Other zoos with breeding pairs of this species include San Diego Zoo, Zoo Miami and Honolulu Zoo.Galapagos tortoise egg hatched – Credit: Philadelphia Zoo“This...

Read More........→April 29, 2025

A century after its discovery, scientists capture first confirmed footage of a colossal squid in the deep

Kat Bolstad, Auckland University of TechnologyThe colossal squid was first described in 1925 based on specimens from the stomach of a commercially hunted sperm whale. A century later, an international voyage captured the first confirmed video of this species in its natural habitat – a 30-centimetre juvenile, at a depth of 600 metres near the South Sandwich Islands. Colossal squid can grow up to seven metres and weigh as much as 500 kilograms, making them the heaviest invertebrate on the planet. But little is known about their life cycle. The first sighting of a juvenile colossal squid in its natural environment. Credit: Schmidt Ocean Institute. The footage of a young colossal squid in the water column was a serendipitous sighting, as many deep-sea squid observations are. It was seen during the live “divestream” feed of a remotely operated vehicle during the Schmidt Ocean Institute and Ocean Census partner expedition searching for new deep-sea species and habitats in the far south Atlantic, mostly focusing on the seafloor. Those tuned into the stream had the remarkable experience of seeing a live colossal squid in its deep-sea home, although its identity was not confirmed until the high-definition footage could be reviewed later. Predators such as whales and seabirds are still one of...

Read More........→April 22, 2025