Meet Adolf, The 106-Year-Old Tortoise Who Loves To Eat Cucumber

Most people would be familiar with the fact that tortoises are known to live for over 100 years. Now a video of a 106-year-old captive tortoise is going viral. The clip features a giant Galapagos tortoise named Adolf. Jay Brewer, a reptile zoo owner in California, USA shared a video of Adolf chomping on cucumbers. The massive tortoise pulls out its neck from its shell and takes big bites of the cucumbers. In the video, Jay explains that Adolf can easily chomp out someone’s finger if the feeding session goes wrong. The Galapagos tortoise is one of the world’s largest tortoise species.

While sharing this video, Brewer wrote, “Adolf the Giant Galapagos Tortoise is 106 years old and loves cucumbers. What a beautiful and sweet animal, Sam’s had him for over 39 years. If only he could talk and tell us about what he’s done the past 100 years, Adolf is a beautiful animal and he’s going to be around longer than most of us. Did you know that these guys will live up to 200 plus years? That is a very long time to be alive. Guess that’s why they make you pet your pet Tortoises on your will.”

Commenting on this video, an X user wrote, “He’s just been eating cucumbers and bumming around for 106 years.” Another asserted, “What a handsome old guy he definitely loves cucumbers.” An Instagram user mentioned, “Kinda worried when your fingers get a little too close with those snaps hahaha… What a majestic creature Adolph is!”

As their name suggests, the Galapagos tortoises are native to the Galapagos Islands, a volcanic archipelago in the Pacific Ocean. The islands are considered some of the world’s foremost destinations for wildlife viewing. Even scientist Charles Darwin visited the islands in 1835. The Galapagos tortoise can grow up to six feet long and again up to 573 pounds (approximately 260 kilograms). The Galapagos tortoise is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN’s Red List for Threatened Species.

As of 2024, the world’s oldest tortoise is Jonathan, a Seychelles giant tortoise, living in Saint Helena, a British Overseas Territory in the South Atlantic Ocean. He is 191 years old. Jonathan is believed to have been hatched in 1832 before it was moved to Saint Helena 50 years later. His date of birth is an estimate based on the fact it was fully mature when it arrived at Saint Helena Island, meaning that it was at least 50 years old in 1882.