Overview
- Born in the Galápagos, Gramma was transferred from the Bronx Zoo sometime between 1928 and 1931 as part of San Diego’s first Galápagos tortoise group.
- Affectionately called “the Queen of the Zoo,” she was celebrated by the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance as a gentle ambassador who touched generations of visitors.
- The zoo invited the public to honor her by enjoying a fruit‑filled salad, noting her favorites were romaine lettuce and cactus fruit.
- Galápagos tortoises comprise 15 subspecies with three extinct and the rest listed as vulnerable or critically endangered, and more than 10,000 juveniles have been released to the wild since 1965.
- Recent U.S. breeding successes included first‑time hatchlings at the Philadelphia Zoo and a first‑time father at Zoo Miami in 2025.