Tu'i Malila - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Tu'i Malila was a tortoise

Tortoise

Tortoises are a family of land-dwelling reptiles of the order of turtles . Like their marine cousins, the sea turtles, tortoises are shielded from predators by a shell. The top part of the shell is the carapace, the underside is the plastron, and the two are connected by the bridge. The tortoise...

given to the royal family of Tonga

Tonga

Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga , is a state and an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, comprising 176 islands scattered over of ocean in the South Pacific...

by Captain James Cook

James Cook

Captain James Cook, FRS, RN was a British explorer, navigator and cartographer who ultimately rose to the rank of captain in the Royal Navy...

. It was a radiated tortoise

Radiated Tortoise

The radiated tortoise is a species in the family Testudinidae. Although this species is native to and most abundant in southern Madagascar, it can be also be found in the rest of this island, and has been introduced to the islands of Réunion and Mauritius...

(Geochelone radiata) from Madagascar

Madagascar

The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...

and is the second longest-lived tortoise whose age has been verified.

The name means King Malila in the Tongan language

Tongan language

Tongan is an Austronesian language spoken in Tonga. It has around 200,000 speakers and is a national language of Tonga. It is a VSO language.-Related languages:...

. Tu'i Malila was born around 1777 and then given by Captain Cook to the Tongan royal family upon his visit to Tonga. Tu'i Malila remained in their care until death on 19 May 1965 due to natural causes. The tortoise was estimated to be 188 years old at this time. During Queen Elizabeth II

Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom

Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...

's Royal Tour of Tonga

Tonga

Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga , is a state and an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, comprising 176 islands scattered over of ocean in the South Pacific...

in 1953, Tu'i Malila was one of the first animals shown to the monarch

Queen regnant

A queen regnant is a female monarch who reigns in her own right, in contrast to a queen consort, who is the wife of a reigning king. An empress regnant is a female monarch who reigns in her own right over an empire....

on her official visit to the island nation.

In the Tongan National Center on the island of Tongatapu

Tongatapu

Tongatapu is the main island of the Kingdom of Tonga and the location of its capital Nukualofa. It is located in Tonga's southern island group, to which it gives its name, and is the country's most populous island, with approximately 71,260 residents , 70.5% of the national population...

, there is a preserved radiated tortoise labeled Tu'i Malila. Little other information is given in English, but the Center staff attest to the fact that this is indeed the body of the famous tortoise.

See also