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 Jalapeño being the darkest, the Dill being the lightest, and the Gherkin which has a white dot in the center.
The paternity of Mr. Pickles, 90, is good news for his species, the Madagascar star tortoise, threatened by poaching for illegal sale and the few young it usually has.
In China, the equivalent of 46 euros is paid 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 chicks survived thanks to the fact that the center’s team detected the eggs in time, transferring them to the reptile and amphibian room for hatching, since Houston’s soil is not the best for turtle hatchlings. .
Mister. Pickles is considered the highest genetic value star tortoise in the United States Association of Zoos and Aquariums Species Survival Plan.
Source: TSF
