posted June 26, 2006 01:41 AM
SYDNEY, Australia - A 176-year-old tortoise reputedly discovered by Charles Darwin and believed to be one of the world's oldest living creatures has died in an Australian zoo.
ADVERTISEMENTThe giant tortoise, known as Harriet, is thought to have been one of three tortoises taken from the
Galapagos Islands by Darwin on his historic 1835 voyage aboard the HMS Beagle.
It is said the tortoise was then just five years old and the size of a dinner plate. Originally mistaken for a male and named Harry, the tortoise spent a few years in Britain before being moved to the Brisbane Botanic Gardens in Australia's tropical Queensland state in the mid-1800s.
The 330-pound tortoise was eventually bought by Queensland's Australia Zoo, which is owned by "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin and his wife Terri. "Harriet sadly died last night after, thankfully, a very short illness," senior veterinarian John Dangar told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. on Friday.
Lindaland
UBBFriend: Email This Page to Someone! 
posted June 26, 2006 01:41 AM
So sad that she passed, but very cool that she was one of Darwin's originals!