Aldabra Giant Tortoise at the Hagenbeck Zoo, Hamburg (Germany)

The Aldabra Giant Tortoise (Aldabrachelys gigantea) is a species of tortoise endemic to the islands of the Aldabra Atoll in the Seychelles. It is one of the largest tortoises in the world. Historically, giant tortoises were found on many of the western Indian Ocean islands, as well as Madagascar, and the fossil record indicates giant tortoises once occurred on every continent and many islands with the exception of Australia and Antarctica. The carapace is a brown or tan colour with a high, domed shape. It has stocky, heavily scaled legs to support its heavy body. The neck of the Aldabra Giant Tortoise is very long, even for its great size, which helps the animal to exploit tree branches up to a meter (about 3.2 feet) from the ground as a food source. Similar in size to the famous Galápagos Giant Tortoise, its carapace averages 122 cm (48 in) in length with an average weight of 250 kg (550 lb). Females are generally smaller than males. Primarily herbivores, Aldabra Giant Tortoises eat grasses, leaves, woody plant stems, and fruit. They occasionally indulge in small invertebrates and carrion, even eating the bodies of other dead tortoises. Little fresh water is available for drinking in the tortoises' natural habitat, so they obtain most of their moisture from their food. They can reach ages of more than 100 years. It is believed that tortoises are the longest lived of all animals although is hard to prove because they have outlived the scientists who were studying them, and proper records were not kept. Leopold, the largest Aldabra Giant Tortoise at Hagenbeck Zoo, is already over a hundred years old.

The Hagenbeck Zoo (Tierpark Hagenbeck) is a zoo in Stellingen, Hamburg, Germany. The collection began in 1863 with animals that belonged to Carl Hagenbeck Sr. (1810–1887), a fishmonger who became an amateur animal collector. The park itself was founded by Carl Hagenbeck Jr. (1844–1913) in 1907 and it is still operated and owned by the Hagenbeck family today. It is known for being the first zoo to use open enclosures surrounded by moats, rather than barred cages, to better approximate animals' natural environments. Over the years, the zoo has gained a good reputation for successfully breeding rare and endangered species such as the Asian Elephant and the Siberian Tiger.