It was one of two tortoises born last month at the Tropiquarium in the town of Servion as part of a programme to preserve the endangered species.
One is black like its parents and the other is albino. Their gender has yet to be determined.
“This is the first time in the world that an albino Galapagos tortoise has been born and kept in captivity. No albino individuals have ever been observed in the wild,” the zoo said in a statementExternal link on Thursday.
The mother, who weighs more than 100kg, laid five eggs on February 11 and the albino baby hatched on May 1. The other baby hatched on May 5 after the eggs spent two-and-a-half months in an incubator.
The male weighs around 180kg. The pair are about 30 years old and have just reached sexual maturity.
The success rate of mating is only around 2%-3% for this species. Baby turtles weigh about 50g at birth and fit in the palm of the hand.
Albinism is rare in tortoises – one out of 100,000 individuals – compared with one in 20,000 for humans, the zoo said.
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