Harriet (tortoise)

Harriet (formerly Harry; c. 1830 – 23 June 2006) was a Galápagos tortoise (Chelonoidis niger, specifically a western Santa Cruz tortoise C. n. porteri) who had an estimated age of 175 years at the time of her death in Australia. At the time of her death, she lived at the Australia Zoo which was owned by Steve and Terri Irwin. Harriet is one of the longest-lived known tortoises, behind Tu'i Malila, who died in 1966 at the age of 188 or 189; Jonathan, who is currently still alive at an estimated 194 years old, and possibly Adwaita, who died in 2006 at an estimated age of between 250 and 255 years. It is claimed that Harriet was collected by Charles Darwin during his 1835 visit to the Galápagos Islands as part of his round-the-world survey expedition, transported to England, and then taken to her final home, Australia, by John Clements Wickham, the retiring captain of the Beagle. However, doubt is cast on this story by the fact that Darwin had never visited Santa Cruz, the island that Harriet originally came from.