Don McFarlane, Team Leader Ectotherms Auckland Zoo, has some exciting news. In a first for New Zealand, Auckland Zoo is celebrating the arrival of a Galapagos tortoise hatchling, and has become only the second zoo in Australasia to breed this species. / Michael Craig
Auckland Zoo is welcoming an extremely mini new family member, who will grow to become one of the world's largest tortoises.
The baby Galapagos tortoise hatched out of a billiard ball-sized egg on December 30, weighing in at just 60g.
Despite its miniscule stature, the baby would grow to over 2,500 times in body mass, growing to reach over 100kg if it turns out to be a female.
If the hatchling is a male, he will grow up to 400 times in size and could reach more than 250kg.
The tortoise in its egg was excavated from where female tortoise Chippie laid it in the ground and put in a controlled environment to ensure its best chance of survival.
The sex of the new arrival would not be known for several years.
As the temperature in which a tortoise is incubated can help determine their gender, it was highly likely the hatchling would be a female.
The tortoise's arrival makes Auckland zoo the second in Australasia to breed this species and parents Smiley and Chippie the country's first Galapagos tortoises to produce offspring.
The zoo currently has four adult Galapagos tortoises; male tortoises Smiley and Willy and females Chippie and Snapper.
The tortoise gang ranges from 46 to 48 - making the tortoises still youngsters themselves in Galapagos tortoise years.
In a first for New Zealand, Auckland Zoo is celebrating the arrival of its first Galapagos tortoise hatchling, becoming only the second zoo in Australasia to breed this species. Photo / Michael Craig
Zoo curator Richard Gibson said he was delighted Smiley and Chippie had finally bred. Photo / Supplied
Zoo curator Richard Gibson said he was delighted Smiley and Chippie had finally bred, expanding their family of the "extraordinary" species of island giants.
"These long-lived, slow maturing reptiles are renowned for taking their time, so we're delighted that they've finally bred," Gibson said.
"The redevelopment of our tortoise enclosure two years ago provided us with a fantastic and much larger climate-controlled indoor area and the capacity to hold two males separately."
Zoo visitors would not be able to see the tortoise hatchling in the flesh for several weeks while it settled in an off-display facility.
Tortoise fans were being offered the chance to name the Zoo's treasured first Galapagos tortoise hatchling through an online voting competition which would be launched on the Zoo's Facebook page soon.
This hatchling can grow to over 2,500 times in body mass, growing to over 100kg if it turns out to be a female, and up to more than 250kg if male. Photo / Michael Craig
What you might not know about Galapagos tortoises:
• The Galapagos tortoise is the world's largest breed of tortoise
• The breed arrived in the Galapagos by floating across the Pacific from South America.
• Today, there are 11 different species of giant tortoises remaining in the Galapagos, down from an original 14 different types.
• Worldwide, there is a total estimated population of approximately 15,000 Galapagos tortoises.
• The tortoises have been highly protected by the Ecuadorian government since 1970. Captive breeding and restoration efforts are having positive effects on numbers.
• The reptiles can continue growing until they are 40 to 50 years old, and can live to around 100 in the wild.
• They can reach over 120cm, or 4 feet, in length.
