VIENNA — Austria’s Schönbrunn Zoo recently said goodbye to its oldest resident: a tortoise who was at least 130 years old, officials said.
In social media posts Tuesday, the Vienna attraction said Schurli the giant tortoise, who had lived at the zoo for 68 years, died Sunday.
“Schurli had a strong character and was adorable and stubborn,” zookeeper Maximilian Schön said in a statement posted to the zoo’s YouTube page. “He enjoyed being petted on the neck.”
Schön added that the Seychelles-born tortoise, who first came to the zoo in 1953, enjoyed bathing by the lawn sprinkler and eating cucumbers and dry leaves.
“They were like chips for him – only healthier,” Schön said.
Schurli’s health began to deteriorate days before his death, and zookeepers “lovingly looked after the ‘old man’ until the last day,” according to the YouTube post.
One of Schurli’s “marginally younger” peers, Menschik, is now believed to be the zoo’s oldest animal, the attraction said.
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