Beerwah, Queensland, Australia

Years to You!

Talk about a lot of candles on the cake! Harriet the giant Galápagos tortoise could be the oldest living animal on Earth. The reptile was born about 172 years ago, around 1830—that's 30 years before Abraham Lincoln was President! Experts think scientist Charles Darwin, famous for his theory of evolution, took the animal from the Galápagos Islands in South America around 1835. After Darwin studied Harriet in England, his friend took her to Australia to live in various zoos. So what has Harriet learned in her long life? Mostly how to nuzzle up to zoo visitors for a neck scratch!

Text by Robin Terry
Photograph by Gary Bell