Un Con Troll Able
03-23-2006, 11:49 AM
Thu Mar 23, 9:00 AM ET
KOLKATA (Reuters) - A giant aldabra tortoise thought to be around 250 years old has died in the Kolkata zoo of liver failure, authorities said on Thursday.
The tortoise had been the pet of Robert Clive, the famous British military officer in colonial India around the middle of the 18th century, a local minister in West Bengal state said.
Local authorities say the tortoise, named "Addwaitya" meaning the "The One and Only" in Bengali, was the oldest tortoise in the world but they have not presented scientific proof to back up their claim.
"Historical records show he was a pet of British general Robert Clive of the East India Company and had spent several years in his sprawling estate before he was brought to the zoo about 130 years ago," West Bengal Forest Minister Jogesh Barman said.
"We have documents to prove that he was more than 150 years old, but we have pieced together other evidence like statements from authentic sources and it seems that he is more than 250 years old," he said.
The minister said details about Addwaitya's early life showed that British sailors had brought him from the Seychelles islands and presented him to Clive, who was rising fast in the East India Company's military hierarchy.
On Thursday, the tortoise's enclosure wore a deserted look.
"This is a sad day for us. We will miss him very much," a zoo keeper said.
If this guy was really that old, then he was born 20 years before the signing of the Declaration of Independence--and George Washington was in his early 20s.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060323/india_nm/india241890
KOLKATA (Reuters) - A giant aldabra tortoise thought to be around 250 years old has died in the Kolkata zoo of liver failure, authorities said on Thursday.
The tortoise had been the pet of Robert Clive, the famous British military officer in colonial India around the middle of the 18th century, a local minister in West Bengal state said.
Local authorities say the tortoise, named "Addwaitya" meaning the "The One and Only" in Bengali, was the oldest tortoise in the world but they have not presented scientific proof to back up their claim.
"Historical records show he was a pet of British general Robert Clive of the East India Company and had spent several years in his sprawling estate before he was brought to the zoo about 130 years ago," West Bengal Forest Minister Jogesh Barman said.
"We have documents to prove that he was more than 150 years old, but we have pieced together other evidence like statements from authentic sources and it seems that he is more than 250 years old," he said.
The minister said details about Addwaitya's early life showed that British sailors had brought him from the Seychelles islands and presented him to Clive, who was rising fast in the East India Company's military hierarchy.
On Thursday, the tortoise's enclosure wore a deserted look.
"This is a sad day for us. We will miss him very much," a zoo keeper said.
If this guy was really that old, then he was born 20 years before the signing of the Declaration of Independence--and George Washington was in his early 20s.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060323/india_nm/india241890