A Galápagos giant tortoise with a domed shell resting on grass. — Photo: Pandanus (German Wikipedia), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Western Santa Cruz Galápagos Tortoise

Chelonoidis porteri

A huge, dome-shelled Galápagos tortoise from Santa Cruz Island that migrates along "tortoise highways."

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About the Western Santa Cruz Galápagos Tortoise

Western Santa Cruz tortoises are one of the largest kinds of Galápagos tortoise. Males can weigh 600 to 700 pounds and females 300 to 400. They have dark skin and domed shells. They live in forests, scrub and grasslands on the southwestern end of Santa Cruz Island, Ecuador, and eat cactus, grasses, leaves, berries and fruit, getting most of their water from food.^[1]

Quick facts

Scientific name: Chelonoidis porteri^[1]
Weight: Males 600 to 700 pounds; females 300 to 400 pounds.^[1]
Lifespan: Well over 100 years.^[1]
Diet: Herbivore. Cactus, grasses, leaves, berries and fruit.^[1]
Habitat: Forests, scrub and grasslands up to 1,500 feet.^[1]
Where it lives: Southwestern Santa Cruz Island, Galápagos, Ecuador.^[1]
Group life: Herds that migrate seasonally.^[1]
Babies: Up to 16 eggs in sandy ground; hatch after 4 to 8 months.^[1]
Conservation status: Critically Endangered (IUCN Red List, assessed 2016). About 3,400 live in the wild.^[1][2]

Fun facts

"Galápago" is an old Spanish word for tortoise.^[1]
Shell shapes of Galápagos tortoises helped Darwin think about evolution.^[1]
A tortoise of this kind named Harriet was estimated to be 175 years old.^[1]

Vocabulary

evolution: The slow change of living things over many generations.
subspecies: A group within a species that lives in a certain area and looks a little different from other groups.
cold-blooded: Having a body temperature that changes with the surroundings; also called ectothermic.
migrate: To travel from one region to another as the seasons change.
critically endangered: A conservation label meaning a species faces an extremely high risk of dying out in the wild.

See it in person

San Francisco Zoo & GardensSan Francisco, California · ReptilesSee this animal on the zoo's website ↗

These zoos had this animal when we gathered our information, but animals sometimes move. Check the zoo's website or contact the zoo before you visit.

Sources

[1] San Francisco Zoo & Gardens. “Western Santa Cruz Giant Tortoise.” https://www.sfzoo.org/western-santa-cruz-giant-tortoise/ (accessed 2026-10-02)
[2] IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. “Chelonoidis porteri (Western Santa Cruz Giant Tortoise).” https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/9026/82777132 (accessed 2026-10-02)