Rare albino Galapagos giant tortoise faces the world

STORY: A rare albino Galapagos giant

tortoise has made its debut

Two tortoises were born

last month at a Swiss zoo

One is black like its parents

The other is albino

THOMAS MOREL, SERVION TROPIQUARIUM STAFF MEMBER, SAYING:

“After several months of incubation, we had the chance to see the first hatching, it was the second hatching in the Servion’s Tropiquarium, we already had one last year, this is the second. We were quite surprised by the tortoise’s color. It can happen at birth, but after two days, we were sure it was an albino when it pointed the tip of its head, so it was really surprising, for this species, it’s quite extraordinary.”

Both tortoises were born in Servion’s Tropiquarium

as part of a program that preserves endangered species

THOMAS MOREL, SERVION TROPIQUARIUM STAFF MEMBER, SAYING:

“Regarding albinism, what we found out is that for tortoises, it's about one in 100,000, so it’s something very special that we are lucky to see.”

The success rate of mating for Galapagos tortoises is extremely low

They can generally live up to 200 years