SEYCHELLEN ~ Aldabra Tortoise - Aldabra Atoll - UNESCO

... One more fantastic little gem coming from Rod... Aldabra is the most remote and most interesting of all the Outer Island groups... it contains one of the most important natural habitats for studying evolutionary and ecological processes... home to nearly 95 percent of the world’s giant tortoise population... there are about 100,000 of them😮... 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... with wonderful special "Tortoise" postmark👍 ...Thanks a lot Rod!ヽ(ヅ)ノ

Aldabra is the world's second-largest coral atoll and is located east of the continent of Africa. It is part of the Aldabra Group of islands in the Indian Ocean that are part of the Outer Islands of the Seychelles.The Outer Islands are are divided into four main groups. They are the Amirantes Group, the Alphonse Group, the Farquhar Group and the Aldabra Group. 

The Aldabra Giant Tortoise 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 was designated at UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1982.

© Michel Gunther/Bios  

Stamps:

Marine Life Definitives

(Issued 01-12-2012)

Seychelles India Day 

(Issued 14-01-2016)