Seychelles giant land tortoise donated to British zoo |28 December 2011

This forms part of newly-established conservation links between the islands’ National Botanical Gardens and the Cotswold Wildlife Park.

The bred male tortoise, named Darwin after the famous Charles Darwin who was one of the first people to propose that the Aldabra atoll in Seychelles remained protected, arrived in the UK in the early hours of Friday last week.

It was Seychelles’ tourism ambassador in the UK, Georgia Dunlop, who initiated an exchange of this nature with the Cotswold Wildlife Park in Oxfordshire and her initiative was fully backed by the islands’ department of environment and the Seychelles Tourism Board.
 
It took Mrs Dunlop and other partners working on the project in both countries, three months to finalise the transfer of 25-year-old Darwin from Seychelles to the UK.

After Darwin landed in the UK, Mrs Dunlop said she was happy the partnership between the National Botanical Gardens and the Cotswold Wildlife Park has kicked off on such a good note.

“It is my dream come true to see Darwin finally arrive at the Cotswold Park and to everyone, he will always symbolise the beginning of this fabulous friendship and partnership between the National Botanical Gardens of Seychelles and Cotswold Wildlife Park of the UK,” said Mrs Dunlop.

Darwin is the fourth tortoise from Aldabra at the Cotswold Wildlife Park, but the first to be officially donated by the government of Seychelles to the park. The giant land tortoise is endemic to the Seychelles and is listed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

Mrs Dunlop, who, together with Seychelles Tourism Board’s PR manager in the UK, Lena Hoareau, visited Darwin in his new home last Friday, said the National Botanical Gardens and Cotswold Wildlife Park of the UK will now agree on a range of exchanges for research purposes.

“I received the help of a lot of people on this project and there was such an enthusiasm throughout. It shows that both sides place great importance on conservation and there is always that readiness to do more and to learn more,” she said.

Mrs Dunlop also spoke of the publicity that such an achievement is expected to bring for her home islands of Seychelles, saying it would create more awareness on the destination and hopefully encourage more visitors from the UK to visit the tourist paradise islands.

Mrs Dunlop was met upon arrival at the Cotswold Wildlife Park on Friday morning by excited staff members, led by the zoo’s owner Reggie Heyworth.

“He is just beautiful and I can’t thank the government of Seychelles enough for this wonderful donation,” said Mr Heyworth of the tortoise, saying he was amazed by his size and beauty.

The giant tortoise Darwin weighs 143kg and is set to become the star attraction of the giant tortoise collection at the zoo.

“I’m sure Darwin will be a big attraction here and we will make sure he feels at home among us,” Mr Heyworth added.

Louise Peat, registrar at the Cotswold Wildlife Park, said compared to Darwin, they do not have a lot of background information on the other three Aldabra tortoises. One was donated to them over 20 years ago by a private individual whereas the two others were offered to them by customs some years ago after a confiscation exercise.

Ms Peat said she felt privileged to have worked closely with Mrs Dunlop on this project and she was excited that Darwin is now one of their zoological collections.

“He adds to the beauty and diversity of the species at the park,” she noted.
Darwin will now undergo an observation process until he fully settles in his new environment.
 
Darwin’s trip is also symbolic in that he travelled on one of Air Seychelles’ last flights to the UK, as the airline is ceasing all services to Europe in January.

An official hand-over of the Seychelles giant tortoise to the Cotswold Park of the UK will take place in February.