After more than 90 years living at the oldest Zoo in the U.S., a Western Santa Cruz Galapagos tortoise named Mommy finally became a mother this year when four of her eggs hatched, as reported by Audacy station KYW Newsradio. This week, the Philadelphia Zoo announced that even more of Mommy’s eggs are hatching.
“Philadelphia Zoo is excited to share that three more critically endangered Western Santa Cruz Galapagos tortoises have hatched at the Zoo,” said a Thursday press release. All three are males.
Previously, four of 97-year-old Mommy’s eggs hatched, all females. Lauren Augustine, curator of reptiles and amphibians at the Philadelphia Zoo told “Something Offbeat” host Mike Rogers that they were named after the “Golden Girls”: Blanche, Dorothy, Rose and Sophia.
Augustine said that Mommy is a fan favorite at the zoo. Her path to motherhood has also been in the works for decades.
“Back in the late 80s, early 90s, they did genetic testing on the Galapagos tortoises in the United States, identifying that mommy was a… Western Santa Cruz Island Galapagos Tortoise,” she told Rogers. “And that Abrazzo, the male that we brought in, was also that same species. So we identified them genetically through the Species Survival Plan and that’s when we moved him to Philadelphia to be with her.”
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You can also learn more about the three new hatchlings HERE: