Hey guys, Bindi and Chandler here with
one of our very special Australia Zoo family members.
This is Jarvis,
the giant Aldabra tortoise.
Now, don't let his slow speed fool you.
If you're a hibiscus leaf, look out,
because that's when Jarvis means business.
[Bindi] Look at that leg! [Chandler] Look at him.
[Bindi] Terrifying! [Chandler] Danger leg.
[Bindi] Okay, danger leg aside,
Jarvis is actually very, very sweet and wonderful,
sometimes.
He is known,
here in Australia Zoo, for being a little bit grumpy.
You know, he likes his own space.
Thankfully, he has a gorgeous
girlfriend named Coconut and she always sorts him out.
[Chandler] I think you're allowed to be grumpy when you weigh over 300 lb (about 140 Kg)!
These tortoises truly are giant.
Now, what a common misconception is about tortoises,
is that they live inside their shell-
The leaves are here. I'm not a leaf.
[Bindi] You are a leaf. You’re not giving them to me fast enough!
But their shell is actually part of their skeletal structure.
So everything we're doing here, when we give them
scratches, when we touch his shell, he can feel that.
His spine is actually attached
to his shell and it's part of his skeleton.
So that's why it's so important to be very nice and gentle and respectful,
to Jarvis's shell and any tortoise, in that fact.
I grew up in Florida where we have endangered gopher tortoises,
and it's the same thing.
They don't really hang around water,
a lot of people think, like turtles,
they want to go in water and be around swimming in water.
While they do like wallowing in mud and puddles,
they're not really designed for swimming.
They're designed for life on land,
foraging around, finding plants just like hibiscuses.
Now I'm running out of leaves and I'm getting scared.
[Bindi] Yeah, I know, you should be because Jarvis is terrifying.
Look at him go.
So they kind of look like a little sock puppet,
but they actually have an incredibly powerful mouth.
These guys, you wouldn't want to get bitten by a tortoise
because that mouth is amazingly strong.
Tortoises are also really interesting because, like Chandler said,
they can feel everything through their shell.
But they love a good scratch.
Often will come in and just give them scratches
to make their day brighter.
I think because they are so big,
they can't scratch those hard to reach places with those big club-like feet.
So if you scratch their shell, under by their legs,
they think it feels so good and they almost go into a trance-like state
because they love scratches so very much.
It's pretty cute.
These guys do love wallowing in the mud,
they're always having a little day spa.
They can also live a really long time.
Hey Chandler. [Chandler] Yeah, definitely.
We had a tortoise named Harriet who was very near and dear to everyone's
hearts at Australia Zoo.
She lived at Australia Zoo before my time here, but she lived to be
over 170 years old.
They're very special, they live an incredibly long time.
Jarvis here, he's around 60 years old.
So he's going to be around a lot longer than we are.
[Bindi] Deadly! [Chandler] Look out.
That's my finger. That’s not a leaf!
[Bindi] You thought it was the crocodiles you had to worry about...
It’s actually the giant tortoises.
[Chandler] Give me a croc any day over Jarvis.
[Bindi] Wow, do you feel the adrenaline? [Chandler] Look out. I almost had to run.
Wow. [Bindi] Oh, my gosh.
But thank you guys so much for joining us.
We are very thrilled to be able to show you our beautiful tortoises.
Before we go, though, I want to give you a little look at Coconut.
Can I leave you here for a second?
I'll keep Jarvis’ attention.
Ok, come with me.
Come look at adorable little Coconut.
Now, this is Jarvis's girlfriend, and she absolutely loves her little mud wallows.
Hi, sweetheart.
Hi beautiful, do you need some scratches?
Do you see how she lifts up those scratches,
because they feel so nice?
So the tortoises, when they're not enjoying life
on their beautiful grassy lawn, they'll come in to their mud puddle
and just have a nice little wallow on those warmer days.
Oh, you are so beautiful.
You can see coconut is a lot calmer than her boyfriend.
She is very cool, calm and collected, and that's why they work so well together.
She is a lot more petite as well.
You can see she has that beautiful, small shell.
Very petite little head.
She's just a beautiful little princess.
And we love her so much.
She adores hibiscus as well.
Her favorites are the flowers.
So she really enjoys those beautiful, bright red hibiscus flowers.
They're like chocolate for her.
I think they're one of the most underrated animals at Australia Zoo.
They are so sweet and also,
Grace’s favorite animal, which I think is really special.
So thank you guys,
sending tortoise cuddles your way.