1 - Lincs Pride JULY 168.qxp 06/06/2016 13:24 Page 110
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As a journalist, I’m quite privileged to see so many interesting things and to be a part of so many interesting activities. Over the past year I’ve had tea with a monk in his Japanese garden, I’ve spoken to Bill Oddie about Birdfair, and I’ve explored parts of Lincolnshire I’ve never known about before. Last month however, I didn’t quite expect I’d be tickling a giant tortoise’s tummy.
Samson is a giant Aldabra tortoise weighing in at 28 stone. He’s 27 years old, around 1.2 metres in length and he still has another 20 stone to gain. Samson is one of 31 tortoises Adrian Graham owns and cares for at his home in Sleaford. Adrian has cared for tortoises ever since he was a child. At the age of four, he discovered he was allergic to cats and dogs. As most four year olds do, he pleaded with his parents for a pet, and they offered him the choice of a tortoise or a fish. Adrian opted for the tortoise, and he’s loved the animals ever since.
He originally comes from the south coast but came to Lincolnshire two years ago purely to provide more space for his ‘creep’ (the collective noun) of tortoises. Adrian wanted to give them more security and more land.
“I’m devoted to them,” says Adrian. “They’re such incredible creatures and I’m very lucky to own so many. I consider them pets and I plan to keep them for as long as they live, which will most likely be longer than I will.” Adrian started to collect average-sized Sulcata tortoises, a different kind to the Aldabra giants with a sandy coloured shell. The Sulcata come from mainland Africa on the edge of the Sahara, so they’re used to a dry and hostile environment. He now has 14 Sucatas alongside 17 Aldabras, a much larger, rarer and darker
“SAMSON IS A GIANT ALDABRA TORTOISE WEIGHING IN AT 28 STONE. HE’S 27 YEARS OLD, AROUND 1.2 METRES IN LENGTH AND HE STILL HAS ANOTHER 20 STONE TO GAIN TO BE FULLY GROWN. HIS GIRLFRIEND BONNIE IS THE SAME AGE, WEIGHING IN AT 21 STONE...” coloured tortoise. Adrian came across the giant Aldabras in the mid-eighties on a visit to Chester Zoo, and later discovered you can privately own them as pets. They were a little harder for him to get his hands on compared to the Sulcata.
“The tortoises come from an island called Aldabra in the middle of the Indian Ocean. It’s a harsh environment and the most southwesterly part of the Seychelles,” says Adrian. “Extremely isolated, Aldabra is almost untouched by humans.”
“This makes the Aldabra giants very rare. The Conservation Parks on Mauritius incubate some of their eggs and limited numbers are sold, to people across the world, with the money raised from the sales going back into Aldabra Conservation projects.” Adrian is trying his hardest to make the lush grassy fields we’re very fortunate
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to have in the county, into the harsh landscapes of Aldabra.
“It’s great for the tortoises to be able to graze on the grass in the fields, but they’re adapted to much more hostile conditions. “The problem with placing them in an environment they’re not used to that’s also quite comfortable, is they start to become lazy. They don’t need to look for their food or risk starvation, as they would in the wild, because it is always there for them.”
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he largest tortoise, Samson, is very slow moving and can’t get anywhere very fast; a result of having food in front of him all the time, in his former ownership.
“I want them to have to find their food to survive and to live in the environment they’re used to. Currently, they’re eating the grass to stock up for winter. They can live for 12 months without food.”
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aturally, I was interested to see if they’re ever aggressive. I don’t like the idea of losing fingers when I’m lying in the grass up close to their faces, trying to take a photo. “They’re not aggressive at all,” says Adrian. “They’re just defensive. The Aldabras are really calm and will just hide in their shells if you approach them quickly or if they feel threatened. The Aldabra’s are an island species and have no natural predators. They have evolved, over millions of years, to have no sense of feeling threatened. Whereas the Sulcatas are a mainland species and can be a little more defensive, they have slightly more ‘armour’ to protect themselves from predators.”
Bonnie, Samson’s girlfriend, is the largest female, weighing in at 21 stone and the same age as Samson. The rest are all sorts of shapes and sizes. The smallest is the same size as Samson’s head! “It’s good to have quite a large number of them. I feel they’re more sociable and more comfortable this way, and the smaller tortoises seem to look up to the larger ones and respect them.”
No one in the UK or Europe has managed to breed Aldabra tortoises. “There are so many different factors in breeding tortoises,” says Adrian. “The climate, the diet, the ecosystem, the temperature, the mate, everything has to be perfect. I only know of a few other people across the whole of the UK who have tortoises too.”
“Most Aldabra giant tortoises are kept in zoos. My animals are involved in research studies, which could help to solve any problems that arise in populations across Britain. Diseases are often very hard to spot. If something does arise, it’s usually too late by the time it becomes visible.”
“It’s often hard to know whether the hatchling is male or female until the animal is in its teens.” Adrian will be at the Lincolnshire Show as Pride goes to press with around eight to ten Aldabra giant tortoises.
“I have a fenced area at the show for people to see the tortoises. I don’t know