The Philadelphia Zoo has shown baby giant tortoise for the first time, which became a mother at 100 years old

The Philadelphia Zoo in the United States has publicly presented four critically endangered baby tortoises for the first time - the first for a 100-year-old tortoise named Mommi, UNN reports, citing Live Science.

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Mommi belongs to the Santa Cruz subspecies of western Galapagos tortoises (Chelonoidis niger porteri). The exact age of the tortoise is unknown, but it has lived in the zoo for over 90 years, and its age is estimated to be around 100 years. This is the first time in the zoo's 150-year history that the western Galapagos tortoise Santa Cruz has been successfully bred.

There are fewer than 50 such tortoises in the United States, and they are critically endangered in the wild, in the Galapagos Islands. There are only a few thousand left.

On Wednesday, April 23, the zoo ceremoniously presented four female tortoises, coinciding with the 93rd anniversary of Mommi's arrival at the zoo. The zoo's press service happily announced on Facebook: "They're finally here!".

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Western Galapagos tortoises of Santa Cruz are a subspecies of the Galapagos tortoise, which is the largest species of tortoise on Earth. Males can grow up to 1.8 meters long and weigh up to 260 kilograms.

The birth of Mommi's cubs is part of a captive breeding program in US zoos aimed at protecting the western Santa Cruz Galapagos tortoises. This is Mommi's first brood, so she is passing on her genes to the next generation for the first time.

According to scientists, these little turtles have every chance of living a long life. One member of the species lived to be 171 years old, and after reaching maturity, these animals are able to reproduce until old age.