Tiny Tortoise Brings Big Joy: A Conservation Milestone Nine Years in the Making

17 JULY 2024 (Calgary, AB) – It’s a tiny tale nearly a decade in the making. The Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo announced today the exciting arrival of a new addition to their creep, but there’s nothing creepy about it. In fact, it’s ‘tor-totally awesome!

On July 8^th, a tiny Egyptian tortoise emerged from its shell to the great joy of the zoo’s Animal Care, Health & Welfare (ACHW) team. This hatchling comes from a clutch of two eggs laid in April by 13-year-old ‘Alexandria’, one of the zoo’s resident Egyptian tortoises. The ACWH team will continue to monitor the second egg but remain cautiously optimistic about its viability.

“The successful hatching of this newest addition is especially exciting for our team and important for the species,” said Mona Keith, Animal Care Supervisor. “For many visitors, their first experience seeing incredible species, like these tiny tortoises, happens at our facility. This special moment builds connections and inspires action for wildlife conservation. With Egyptian tortoises being critically endangered in the wild, our support in helping them successfully produce offspring, while raising awareness about their conservation status, is vital for their survival.”

Breeding Egyptian tortoises is no small feat! The ACHW team has been working to successfully breed these critically endangered tortoises since the species first arrived at the zoo in 2015. The zoo’s tortoise group, collectively known as a ‘creep,’ consists of five males and three females. They are part of a Species Survival Plan (SSP) designed to maximize the genetic diversity of the population in human care and support the long-term sustainability of this at-risk species.

As part of the SSP breeding recommendation, it is important to know which individuals produced the offspring. In various animal species, including these tortoises, mated females can store viable sperm in their reproductive tracts for up to two years! So, the ACHW team kept the males and the females separate for two years before pairing them up for controlled breeding. There were a couple of wall breaches during this time (these torts are small but mighty!), so the ACHW team had to restart the two-year countdown. Finally, controlled breeding began in 2019. Over time, the ACHW team made changes to their management plan and approach to the breeding program. These changes involved transitioning from controlled breeding pairs to a model where all tortoises reside together, allowing them to naturally select their mates. Despite uncertainty about the sire, the hatchling represents a remarkable milestone: the first successful hatching of an Egyptian tortoise since their arrival at the zoo nearly a decade ago.

The incubation period for an Egyptian tortoise egg can range from 70 to 126 days, depending on the temperature. Once laid, the eggs in Alexandria’s clutch were carefully transferred to an incubator where the ACHW team could control the temperature and monitor the eggs throughout the incubation period. Using a process called candling, the ACWH team was able to determine that the eggs were fertilized and viable. The zoo’s newest resident was welcomed into the world after an 84-day incubation period. These babies are tiny when they hatch, typically weighing about 10 grams. To put it into perspective, that’s equivalent to the weight of two nickels! The zoo’s hatchling came in at a healthy 7.4g! Even full-grown, adult Egyptian tortoises are small and often get mistaken for baby tortoises. On average, adults grow to 4 to 4.5 inches long, weighing between 156 and 354 grams, with females tending to be slightly larger than males.

At 9 days old, the hatchling—whose sex has not yet been confirmed—resides separately in a back-of-house space and is actively exploring its habitat more each day. While it grows in size and strength, the little one will remain behind the scenes and is not currently viewable. In the meantime, you can visit the rest of the creep in the African Savannah building on your next zoo visit.

“Conservation isn’t just something we do; it’s our purpose and underscores our deep connection to nature and our duty to help safeguard the world we share,” said Keith. “Like this tiny tortoise emerging into a vast world, its arrival symbolizes hope and resilience for its species. Through dedicated conservation efforts and education, we can foster this hope and strive towards a future where these remarkable reptiles can flourish.”

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Background:

• Did you know that more than 50% of all known tortoise and turtle species are facing extinction, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species? This alarming figure translates to 187 out of 360 identified species!
• About the SSP –To help ensure at-risk species, like the Egyptian tortoise, are around for generations to come, accredited zoos work together to protect their genetics through managed breeding programs called Species Survival Plans (SSPs). By matching the right animals, the hope is that they will produce offspring to maintain a healthy genetically diverse population in human care, helping to safeguard species from extinction.
• About the Species – Egyptian tortoises, also known as the Kleinmann’s tortoise, Leith’s tortoise, and the Negev tortoise, are the smallest species of tortoise found in the northern hemisphere. Once abundant across Libya, Egypt, and Israel, their population is now isolated to small patches of territory in Libya where they inhabit the desert landscape along the southern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. Classified as Critically Endangered under the IUCN Red List, they face significant threats of habitat loss due to agriculture and development, resource competition, and illegal poaching/over-collection for the wildlife pet trade. Due to their low reproductive rate, their populations do not bounce back easily in the wild.

Please note: 

• A member of our Animal Care, Health & Welfare team is available for an in-person or phone interview. Please contact our media relations team to schedule. Photo opportunities with the hatchling are not permitted at this time.

For more information contact:

Alison Archambault
Director, Brand & Engagement
403.232.7766 | 403.919.9482 | mediarelations@calgaryzoo.com

For more than 30 years, the internationally accredited Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo has been a leading authority in wildlife conservation, reintroducing threatened species to the wild and empowering communities to conserve natural resources to positively impact both the environment and local inhabitants.

While our work is global, our roots run deep in the Albertan conservation community. Sitting on 125 acres in the heart of the city, we operate one of the oldest charities in Alberta, the Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo – a not-for-profit charitable wildlife conservation organization that works to fight the extinction of plants and animals worldwide. In addition to the zoo, we proudly operate the Archibald Biodiversity Centre (ABC), Canada’s largest conservation breeding and research facility. Nestled on 330 acres in the Albertan prairies, the ABC is a stronghold for biodiversity and a temporary home to some of Canada’s most iconic species-at-risk.

The Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo is passionate about inspiring and educating generations of visitors about the importance of biodiversity and conservation. Together, we will continue to be a force of nature for making the world a wilder place. Learn more at WilderInstitute.org and CalgaryZoo.com.