Overview
- San Diego Zoo officials said Gramma died on November 20 and was among the park’s first Galápagos tortoises.
- Records indicate she came from the Bronx Zoo and arrived in San Diego in either 1928 or 1931.
- The zoo called her a beloved fixture and ambassador who lived through two world wars and roughly twenty U.S. presidencies.
- Visitors shared decades of memories, including childhood rides that are no longer allowed, reflecting shifting animal-welfare standards.
- Galápagos tortoises commonly surpass 100 years in the wild, Harriet reached 175 in 2006, and conservation programs report over 10,000 young released since 1965 with recent captive-breeding successes in Philadelphia and Corsica.