Oregon Zoo Welcomes New Tortoises

Meet Dozer and Shelly — Portland's new power couple.

The African spurred tortoises are the largest mainland tortoise species in the world. Only the tortoises on Galapagos and Aldabra are bigger.

The pair are believed to between 25 and 30 years old.

Dozer weighs about 170 pounds and Shelly is about 90 pounds; they can grow to be more than 200 pounds.

"They’re doing really well in their new habitat," said Shelly Pettit, the zoo’s senior keeper for reptiles and amphibians. "They’re very active and surprisingly speedy. Dozer did not get his name by napping."

The zoo says Dozer is short for bulldozer.

The Oregon Zoo got the reptiles from the Seneca Park Zoo in New York. Visitors will be able to see the pair in the Africa Savanna section.

Pettit says that tortoises like Dozer and Shelly are regularly bred and sold throughout the United States. She warns against getting them as pets.

"Pet stores often sell these tortoises when they’re still babies, but they get very large very quickly," Pettit said. “A hundred pounds is a whole lot of tortoise to care for, and these guys typically live 50 years or more.

"Most people are not able to make a lifelong commitment to their care, and rescue agencies are overwhelmed trying to find new homes for those that have been abandoned."

Photo of Dozer by Michael Durham, courtesy of the Oregon Zoo.