These giants are the largest tortoises in the world. The biggest one ever recorded, measured across its shell, was five feet (1.5 meters) long and weighed about 550 pounds (249 kilograms). These tortoises can live to be 100 years old or older. The oldest known Galápagos tortoise lived to be 152. These slow-moving reptiles graze on grass, leaves, fruits, vines, cactuses, and other vegetation.
Giant Galápagos tortoises are endangered. They live in the wild only in parts of the Galápagos Islands, a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean about 600 miles (966 kilometers) off the coast of Ecuador in South America. Approximately 3,000 to 5,000 of these animals still survive there. Up until the 19th century, they were often hunted by sailors who needed fresh meat to eat.
