Four giant tortoises have moved in to Jersey Zoo

Twiggy is returning to Jersey having left more than 45 years ago

Visitors to Jersey Zoo can now visit one of the largest tortoise species in the world.

Giant Aldabra tortoises Biggie, Twiggy, Mike and Helen have emerged from quarantine after arriving from Bristol Zoo in November.

Home is a special "tortoise tunnel", kept at 30C and complete with indoor and outdoor areas, and a heated pond.

Weighing in at 200kg (31st), Biggie is the zoo's heaviest animal, taking the crown from silverback gorilla Badongo.

Biggie by name, biggie by nature

Aldabra giant tortoises, together with their distantly related cousins the Galapagos giant tortoise, are the largest species of the reptiles in the world.

Twiggy, one of the two females, has lived at the zoo before, having been brought over by naturalist Gerald Durrell, remaining for a decade between 1965 and 1975.

She was later moved to Bristol Zoo.

Matt Goetz, Curator of herpetology and invertebrates said they were "really excited" about the arrivals.

He added: "Not only are they fascinating to look at and learn about, but they also play an important role in our conservation work around the world.

"We have been working with Aldabra tortoises for many years in our island restoration programme around Mauritius."

Mike enjoying the heated pond at Jersey Zoo

Aldabra giant tortoises can live for more than 150 years, with some shells reaching over 1 metre (3.2ft) in length.

Once found across the Seychelles, the Aldabras were once hunted for food until they became restricted to only the Aldabra atoll.

They have recently been reintroduced to a few of the smaller islands in the Seychelles to help restore ecosystems.

Helen is among the four new arrivals

The Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust has been working with Aldabra tortoises for more than 20 years and introduced them to Ile aux Aigrettes and Round Island, two islands in Mauritius, the zoo said.

Twiggy could live past her 150th birthday

There are now more than 800 Aldabra giant tortoises free roaming on Round Island, due to the work of Durrell and their local partners.

Follow BBC Jersey on Twitter and Facebook. Send your story ideas to [e-mail].