Unbelievable, a tortoise, Sir Alex, has lived for 200 years

Arusha school pupils feed Sir Alex yesterday. Records show the giant tortoise is aged 200 years. PHOTO | ZULFA MUSSA 

In Summary

The 200-year-old Sir Alex was imported to Arusha along with three other tortoises from Australia in early 1920s when the primary school was not even in place.

By Zulfa Musa

Arusha. Clocking 100 years of age is quite an accomplishment to you, but it is not a big deal to Sir Alex, a tortoise that has seen a number of generations pass through Arusha School for about a century now.

The 200-year-old Sir Alex was imported to Arusha along with three other tortoises from Australia in early 1920s when the primary school was not even in place.

When learning institution was established in early 1930s, the management domesticated the three tortoises before one of them was transferred to Kilimanjaro Region and another to Dar es Salaam. The fate of the two colleagues of Sir Alex has not been known since.

No one also recalls the person who brought the polite reptile during the colonial regime, but Sir Alex goes on record as the first creature to have lived two centuries in this country.

The oldest tortoise was named Sir Alex when English courses were first introduced in the country, including at the Arusha School where children of envoys and foreigners used to be enrolled.

Pelle Shaibu, a retired teacher who taught at Arusha School between 1981 and 2007, recalls how wildlife officials had attempted to pick Sir Alex on grounds that it was a government trophy but they returned him shortly thereafter.

Sir Alex neither accepted their meals nor drinks while in the officials’ custody, let alone showing his head and neck. “Surprisingly, Sir Alex started eating normally once the officials returned him to the school,” the teacher said.

Overwhelmed by his old age and weight, Sir Alex can now walk barely three metres a day. He, however, continues attracting pupils and visitors at the school.

Suspected poachers once attempted to kill him to no avail, leaving a scar not only on his shell, but in the minds of Arusha school alumni.

Incumbent primary school head teacher Angel Kitigwa says Sir Alex was the lifeline of the learning institution, as he was a friend of the first intake of pupils, their children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren.

“Some of the alumni are now renowned persons,” she says, citing David Read, 95, a prominent author of books based in England.

Read, who passed through Arusha School in mid 1930s, admits that he fondly remembers his friend Sir Alex. Among several books Read has authored include the Barefoot over Serengeti.

The author, whose alternative residence is at Ngurdoto on the fringes of Arusha, though appears to be of the same age with Sir Alex now, his friend is actually twice older than he is.