Adwaita - Pet tortoise of Robert Clive [ Major General of East India Company.]

Adwaita 
 [at Alipore Zoological Garden]

Adwaita [ Bengali meaning - "the only one" ] was a male Aldabra giant tortoise that lived in the Alipore Zoological Gardens of Calcutta, India. Adwaita died in the year 2006. He was believed to be amongst the longest-living animals in the world.

History

Adwaita was reportedly given to Robert Clive [ 1725–1774 ] of the East India Company by British seafarers who captured it from Aldabra, an atoll in the Seychelles. This anecdotal report has not been confirmed. The animal was one of four tortoises which were resided at Clive's estate at Barrackpore, in the northern suburbs of Calcutta. Adwaita was transferred to the Alipore Zoo in between 1875 - 1876 by Carl Louis Schwendler [ the founder of the zoo].
Adwaita lived in his enclosure in the zoo until his death on 22 March 2006.

Physical Description -
Weighing 250 kg [ 590 lb ], Adwaita was a solitary animal with no records of his progeny. He lived on a diet of wheat bran, carrots, lettuce, soaked gram, bread, grass and salt.

Reason of Death -  
His shell cracked in late 2005, and a wound developed in the flesh underneath the crack. The wound became infected, which eventually led to death from liver failure on 22 March 2006.

Age -
[ at the time of death ]
Adwaita is estimated to have been at least 150 years old at the time of his death. Some estimates suggest the animal may have been at least 250 years old at the time of his death. If this latter estimate can be confirmed, Adwaita would have been the oldest known tortoise of modern times, living longer than Harriet by 80 years, and Tu'i Malila by 67 years.