Aldabra giant tortoise foraging for food in a forest on North Island, which is part of Aldabra – the world's second-largest coral atoll. Credit: Rich Baxter/IOTA Seychelles

In 1997, North Island located in the Seychelles was purchased by private investors for ecotourism and rewilding. Today, that venture took 200 heavy steps forward as 50 Galapagos tortoises were released to the island to roam free again as they did once before. Many of the tortoises were actually pets surrendered for the joint project with Indian Ocean Tortoise Alliance (IOTA) and North Island Environment Department.

Before the tortoises left Mahé, they were microchipped for the national tortoise census and fed only native leaves to prevent the spread of invasive plant species via their droppings. They underwent two quarantines, one in Mahé and one on North Island, before taking their first steps into their new wild home.

Now, every day, they walk a little farther and explore a little more. “After months of planning, seeing them walk free was incredibly rewarding,” says IOTA assistant project officer Santosh Albert.

To read more about this amazing release, visit here.

Photo Courtesy California Academy of Sciences


Starting his life on September 15, 1995 in a Louisiana swamp, Claude was quickly brought into captivity because the chances of survival as an albino animal is none. After a brief time growing up at St. Augustine Alligator Farm & Zoological Gardens, Claude became a fixture at the California Academy of Sciences building in their swamp. He also in a way became an unofficial and well beloved mascot of the whole City of San Francisco.

“As you can imagine it’s a very sad day over here,” said Jeanette Peach, Cal Academy’s acting communications director, in an email to SFGATE. “At the moment we’re not doing interviews as we don’t have more information to share yet, but once we have the findings of the necropsy and exam that is being performed at UC Davis we will be able to share more.”

Our hearts go out to his care team. To read more and see some videos and photos of Claude, visit SFGate here.

We wanted to update this articles with the findings that the necropsy results have returned and show "extensive liver cancer" among other ailments. You can read more here