Korat Zoo has welcomed the arrival of 11 hatchlings of the Aldabra giant tortoise, the first zoo in Thailand to successfully breed the species.
The 11 eggs hatched on Sunday, zoo director Thanachon Kensingh said on Wednesday. They were all healthy. Their sex was still unknown.
They were being taken care of in the nursery grounds, under the close watch of veterinarians and specialist keepers.
The zoo has three adult Aldabra giants, one male and two females, and is the first zoo under the Zoological Park Organisation of Thailand to breed them, Mr Thanachon said.
When appropriate, they would be put on public display to hopefully daw visitors, he said. (continues below)
The 11 Aldabra giant tortoise hatchlings at Korat Zoo. (Photo: Korat Zoo Facebook)
According to the Unesco world heritage site, the species is endemic to the Seychelles islands, in the Indian Ocean, and native to Aldabra atoll, with the wild population estimated at 100,000. It is the third largest in the world, behind the Galapagos tortoise and the African spurred tortoise.
The chief reptile keeper, Sunthorn Jongklang, said the Aldabra giant grows to over a metre long and can weigh 250 kilogrammes or more.
Their thick shells are dark grey or black and dome shaped. They can live up 150 years, he said.
Korat Zoo is in tambon Chai Mongkhon, in Muang district of Nakhon Ratchasima province.
A full-grown Aldabra gianttortoise with a keeper in the reptile enclosure at the zoo in Nakhon Ratchasima. (Photo: Korat Zoo Facebook page)