SEYCHELLEN ~ Aldabra Tortoise - Aldabra Atoll - UNESCO

... Fantastic WWF maxicard with Zil Elwannyen Sesel stamp (1985)... but also with nice Seychellen stamps on the back... Aldabra is the most remote and most interesting of all the Outer Island groups... home to nearly 95 percent of the world’s giant tortoise population... there are about 100,000 of them😮... five times the number of the Galapagos... the atoll has been well protected and preserved, so these herbivorous gentle giants are able to roam safely and freely (and, it must be said, slowly), nibbling grasses and leaves.... there are no hotels on the Aldabra group which, apart from visiting scientists and the occasional small cruise ship or charter boat from Mahé, sees few visitors... stone-grey carapace gives them the appearance of a living fossil... its ancestors, looking very similar to the present day animal, date from the time of the dinosaurs or earlier... Thanks a lot Gert!ヽ(ヅ)ノ

The Outer Islands of the Seychelles (local name: Zil Elwagne Sesel) are a collective term for those islands of the Seychelles that are not on the Seychelles Plateau which defines the location of the Inner Islands. They are located at distances of 230 to 1150 km from the main Seychelles island of Mahé, and are all of coral formation.

The Outer Islands are located in the western Indian Ocean are divided into four main groups. From east to west they are the Amirantes Group, the Alphonse Group, the Farquhar Group and the Aldabra Group.

The Aldabra Giant Tortoise (Aldabrachelys gigantea) is one of the largest tortoises in the world, native to the islands of Aldabra Atoll in the Seychelles. Aside from having longer and thicker tails and weighing 240 kg, males are slightly larger than females, with an average length of 122 cm. Females measure around 91 cm and weigh about 159 kg.

Aldabra Atoll became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1982.

 On 20 June 1980, stamps were issued inscribed Zil Eloigne Sesel. These were sold from the m.v. Cinque Juin which operated as a travelling post office. From 1982 to 1984 stamps were inscribed Zil Elwagne Sesel and from 1984 to 1992 Zil Elwannyen Sesel.

Stamps:

Marine Life Definitives
(Issued 01-12-2012)

Birds Definitives
(Issued 2000)