Then came November 2024.
Sixteen Eggs—and the Breakthrough Everyone Had Been Waiting For
In November 2024, Mommy laid a clutch of 16 eggs.
This time, the eggs were viable.
Animal care specialists carefully excavated them the following day and transferred them to controlled incubation conditions.
Galápagos tortoises possess a fascinating biological characteristic: the temperature at which their eggs incubate influences the sex of the offspring.
According to Philadelphia Zoo, temperatures below approximately 82.4 degrees Fahrenheit tend to produce males, while temperatures above approximately 85.1 degrees Fahrenheit tend to produce females.
The team therefore incubated some eggs under conditions intended to produce females and others under conditions intended to produce males.
The process required enormous patience.
Galápagos tortoise eggs can take roughly four to eight months to hatch.
Then, on February 27, 2025, the first hatchling emerged.
Three more females followed over the following days.
Philadelphia Zoo publicly announced the milestone in early April: four Western Santa Cruz Galápagos tortoises had successfully hatched—the first successful hatching of the species in the zoo’s more than 150-year history.
The tiny reptiles were almost comically small compared with their enormous parents.
At the time of the announcement, the hatchlings weighed roughly 70 to 80 grams—about the weight of a chicken egg.
Their parents, meanwhile, were both estimated to be around a century old.
The contrast quickly captured public attention.
Nearly 100 years of age separated the experience of the parents from the beginning of their offspring’s lives.
Yet biologically, the connection had finally happened.
Four Babies Became Seven
The first four hatchlings were only the beginning.
Three additional males from Mommy’s November 2024 clutch subsequently emerged in April and early May.
That brought the first viable clutch’s final total to seven surviving hatchlings: four females and three males.
Several of the females became known collectively as the “Golden Girls.”
Philadelphia Zoo later identified them as Sophia, Rose, Dorothy and Blanche, names inspired by the famous television series. Their hatch dates ranged from February 28 to March 6, 2025.
The symbolism was difficult to miss.
A nearly century-old mother had produced daughters named after four famously older television characters.
But behind the playful names was a serious conservation achievement.
These were not simply new attractions for visitors.
They represented genetic material that had previously been missing from the managed population.
Before Mommy reproduced, Philadelphia Zoo reported that there were only 44 Western Santa Cruz giant tortoises in U.S. zoos. Her successful offspring introduced an entirely new genetic lineage into that group.
For a critically endangered animal, genetic diversity can be essential to maintaining a healthy managed population over generations.
And Mommy was not finished.
Then Came a Second Clutch
In January 2025, Mommy laid another clutch.
Zoo staff again incubated the eggs carefully.
During May, June and July, new hatchlings began appearing.
The second successful clutch ultimately produced nine more tortoises—three females and six males.
By August 2025, Philadelphia Zoo announced that Mommy and Abrazzo were now the parents of 16 babies in total: seven females and nine males.
What had seemed almost impossible only a year earlier had happened twice.
For decades Mommy had produced no surviving offspring.
Then, within a relatively short period late in her life, she produced two successful clutches.
Philadelphia Zoo’s director of herpetology described the achievement as the result of years of coordinated work—from Abrazzo’s transfer, to the introductions, nest preparation, egg recovery and incubation, and finally the care of the newborn tortoises.
By August 2025, the zoo said that 60 Western Santa Cruz Galápagos tortoises were represented in the managed AZA population when the new babies were included.
Sixteen of them were Mommy’s children.
Why These 16 Babies Matter
It is tempting to view the story primarily through its emotional appeal.