Gramma, a Galapagos tortoise and the oldest animal at the San Diego Zoo, eating at the San Diego Zoo in San Diego on October 30, 2024.Image: keystone
November 25, 2025, 6:41 p.mNovember 25, 2025, 6:41 p.m
When the turtle Gramma was born in the Galapagos, the civil war in the USA was just 15 years old and Donald Trump’s grandfather Friedrich had just left Bavaria for the New World. The animal came to the San Diego Zoo between 1928 and 1931 in the middle of the Great Depression and died on November 20th, according to the zoo, at the age of around 140 years.
Because of its old age, the turtle’s bone condition had become so bad that the keepers decided to say goodbye to it, according to the park’s Instagram page. The “Queen of the Zoo”, who was initially photographed in black and white photos, became a permanent social media star at the end of her life, it was said. The “history witness and beloved icon” was probably the oldest living creature in the zoo, the facility said. (sda/dpa)