Giant tortoises back from brink of extinction – and now outnumber humans in Seychelles

The Aldabra Giant Tortoise is thriving in the Seychelles (Picture: FotoNatura/Cover Images)

Just decades after facing mass extinction, the giant tortoise is now thriving as a species after a significant baby boom.

The hard-shelled, slow-moving animal now outnumbers humans in the Seychelles, the archipelago that houses the world’s largest free-roaming population of giant tortoises.

Researchers estimate that about 180,000 Aldabra giant tortoises (Aldabrachelys gigantea) live on Aldabra Atoll, the highest population estimate ever recorded.

The study, led by the Seychelles Islands Foundation (SIF) and the University of Exeter, analysed five years of tortoise counts collected by SIF rese...