An endangered turtle has given birth for the first time at the age of 90 at the Houston Zoo in the US state of Texas, according to local media.
Mister. Pickles fathered three baby turtles: Dill, Gherkin, and Jalapeño. The three little turtles are distinguished by the color of their shells.with the jalapeno being the darkest, the dill the lightest, and the gherkin with a white dot in the center.
The paternity of Mr. Pickles, at 90, is good news for his species, the madagascar star tortoisethreatened by poaching for illegal sale and the few offspring it usually has.
In China you pay the equivalent of 46 euros to eat one of these turtles. The three children of Mr. Pickles, who has been at the Houston Zoo for 36 years, is the son of his partner, Ms. Pickles, 53, who came to the conservation center in 1996.
The little turtles will stay in the zoo’s reptile and amphibian center until they are old enough to be reunited with their parents.
The zoo explained in a statement that the hatchlings survived thanks to the fact that the center’s team detected the eggs in timetransferring them to the reptile and amphibian hatchery room, since the soil in Houston is not the best for turtles.
Mister. Pickles are considered the The most genetically valuable star tortoise in the survival plan United States Association of Zoos and Aquariums.
Source: Observadora
