Dill, Gherkin and Jalapeño, Houston’s Tortoise Hatchlings, Were Years in the Making

Radiated tortoises produce few offspring, but a species-survival plan paired up Mr. and Mrs. Pickles

Hatchlings Jalapeño, Gherkin and Dill sit in the grass. Danielle Villasana for The Wall Street Journal

The three eggs Mrs. Pickles, a 53-year-old radiated tortoise, laid at the Houston Zoo may have been a surprise. But they were far from accidental.

A zoo keeper noticed Mrs. Pickles digging in the ground at closing time one day in October, a sign the critically endangered reptile was about to lay eggs. What followed was part of a carefully managed global breeding program.

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