‘The hatchling represents a remarkable milestone — the first successful hatching of an Egyptian tortoise since their arrival at the zoo nearly a decade ago,’ said the zoo.
A recent edition to the Calgary Zoo is a toonie-sized tiny tortoise which is a critically endangered species.
The Egyptian tortoise hatchling emerged on July 8 after an 84-day incubation period, weighing in at just 7.4 grams.
Full-grown, adult Egyptian tortoises are small — about 4 inches long, weighing between 156 and 354 grams — and often get mistaken for baby tortoises according to Mona Keith, animal care supervisor at the zoo.
“Egyptian tortoises are critically endangered in the wild — so for us to have this breeding program for them, it’s really important,” Keith said.
There are about 7500 of the tortoises in the wild; they have been largely extirpated from Egypt but there are remnant populations in Libya, where they inhabit the desert landscape along the southern shore of the Mediterranean Sea.
The Calgary Zoo’s group of Egyptian tortoises, known as a ‘creep’, consists of three females and five males, not including the baby who’s gender has not been confirmed yet. Egyptian tortoises can live to 25 or 30 years old, a fairly long life for their size, said Keith.
The hatchling came from a clutch of two eggs laid in April by 13-year-old tortoise ‘Alexandria’, staff remain cautiously optimistic about the second egg.
In a media release, the zoo said, “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!”
“The hatchling represents a remarkable milestone — the first successful hatching of an Egyptian tortoise since their arrival at the zoo nearly a decade ago,” said the zoo.
In terms of the incubation process, staff watch for the females to begin digging nests in the sand and will carefully pick them up and put them in an incubator — which Keith said gives them a greater chance of success.
“We can control the temperature and humidity better in an incubator than we can in their in their habitat,” she said. “Incubation, it can be anywhere from 80 to 120 days.”
Once the egg begins to hatch, that process alone can take one or two days.
“She (Alexandria) still has a number of years to go . . . and we’re hoping for the other two females, they didn’t lay eggs this year but hopefully we’re on the right track and they will participate and contribute,” she said.
They aren’t sure yet who the hatchling’s father is.
“It’s quite exciting for us to have this little one hatch out successfully for us,” said Keith.
Although it’s only nine days old, the hatchling started to eat on Wednesday and is behaving properly she said.
“When it’s cool it comes out and basks under the heat, then it’ll retreat into his little cave and (stay) hidden quite a bit — because that’s a natural survival instinct in the wild as well.”