RIP Harriet
After a long and distinguished life, Harriet the tortoise has died at an estimated age of 175.
As the oldest-known living creature in the world, the giant Galapagos tortoise was thought to have been born in 1830. But after what appeared to be a heart attack, she finally passed away at Australia Zoo on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland
The giant Galapagos tortoise died of an acute heart attack after suffering from an illness, according to Australian vet John Hangar.
"She had a very fairly acute heart attack, and thankfully, passed away quietly overnight," Hangar told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. "She had been sick yesterday with, in effect, heart failure."
The Australian Zoo claims that in 1835 when she was about the size of a dinner plate, Harriet was taken from the Galapagos Islands by Charles Darwin. However, many scientists have suggested that Harriet may not have been one of Darwin's pets, because DNA tests have shown that the giant tortoise belonged to a subspecies found on an island that the British explorer never visited.
Whether or not she was ever in Darwin's presence, Harriet was one of the last living creatures to live through the major moments of modern history.
With her date of birth calculated to 1830, Harriet was born while Andrew Jackson was president of the United States. Abraham Lincoln was assassinated when she was 35. She lived through several of the major wars in recorded history, including the Civil War and both World Wars. She was already 82 years old when the Titanic sank in 1912, and Pearl Harbor was attacked as Harriet reached 111.
As the oldest-known living creature in the world, the giant Galapagos tortoise was thought to have been born in 1830. But after what appeared to be a heart attack, she finally passed away at Australia Zoo on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland
The giant Galapagos tortoise died of an acute heart attack after suffering from an illness, according to Australian vet John Hangar.
"She had a very fairly acute heart attack, and thankfully, passed away quietly overnight," Hangar told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. "She had been sick yesterday with, in effect, heart failure."
The Australian Zoo claims that in 1835 when she was about the size of a dinner plate, Harriet was taken from the Galapagos Islands by Charles Darwin. However, many scientists have suggested that Harriet may not have been one of Darwin's pets, because DNA tests have shown that the giant tortoise belonged to a subspecies found on an island that the British explorer never visited.
Whether or not she was ever in Darwin's presence, Harriet was one of the last living creatures to live through the major moments of modern history.
With her date of birth calculated to 1830, Harriet was born while Andrew Jackson was president of the United States. Abraham Lincoln was assassinated when she was 35. She lived through several of the major wars in recorded history, including the Civil War and both World Wars. She was already 82 years old when the Titanic sank in 1912, and Pearl Harbor was attacked as Harriet reached 111.
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