Summer in the city

During the hot weather, our giant tortoises have been enjoying the occasional refreshing shower. There is very little water in their natural habitat, so these animals have evolved to drink with their noses as well as their mouths, using their nostrils to suck up even the tiniest amounts of water from cracks in the rocks. Giant tortoises, which weigh up to 250 kg, lack teeth; instead, they chew their food with a kind of horny beak. These reptiles live through many hot summers in their long lives – their average life expectancy is the longest of any animal: a remarkable 170 years.