Curieuse Marine National Park

Curieuse is the only other island in the Seychelles and world, besides Praslin, where the infamous Coco de Mer palms occur. Known for its red sand, the island is also home to over 500 Aldabra giant tortoises. Driven almost to extinction by sailors in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, these tortoises were often taken aboard ships as live food sources for long voyages. Fortunately, a few members of the species survived in the Aldabra Atoll from which the reptiles take their name. Now, due to numerous conservation efforts, these animals have been brought back from the brink and number well over 100,000. Adwaita, of Kolkata zoo is thought to be among the longest living animals in history, dying in 2006, aged 255. Despite being some of the longest living tortoises in the world, Aldabras are known to risk death by standing on their hind legs to reach food; if they fall on their back they may not be able to right themselves again.