Giant tortoise took over the position of mother at the age of 80

Nigrita's nest, an 80-year-old Galapagos giant, was successfully hatched at the zoological zoo of Zurich, Germany, producing nine young turtles.

According to Mother Nature Network, Nigrita paired with a poor male who was 36 years old. "Nigrita is the oldest animal in our zoo, but it can still breed well," said Robert Zingg, senior manager at the zoo.

Turtle Nigrita's mother beside a baby.(Photo: Zurich Zoo).

Nigrita weighs about 90kg, while the paired turtle with that name Jumbo has twice the weight. Small juveniles with hard apricot layers weigh 0.1 - 0.2 kg. Because they are much smaller than their parents, they are raised in other areas for most of the time to avoid being accidentally stepped on by parents.

Nigrita went to Zurich Zoo in 1946 but did not spawn until more than three decades later. Although none of the eggs in the first batch survived, the later parity of Nigrita was successfully hatched and its offspring lived in zoos throughout Europe.

Nigrita gave birth to 9 babies.(Photo: Zurich Zoo).

The zoo staff carefully dug Nigrita's eggs after it lays and placed the egg nest in the temperature-controlled incubator so that it could be closely monitored. The eggs were incubated from 106 to 121 days. Zurich Zoo is the only place in Europe where breeding Galapagos tortoises are bred and reproduced successfully in captivity.

According to National Geographic, Galapagos giant turtles live the longest among vertebrates, with an average lifespan of over 100 years. The longest record in this turtle is 152 years old. They are also the largest turtle in the world , some of which are over 1.5 meters long and 250kg in weight.