were only two imports of Galápagos tortoises prior to 1900, and four of the five animals involved have been accounted for and are still represented by museum material. The suggestion in some quarters that Harriet was collected by whalers and brought to Australia is not likely, as Australia had its own whaling industry and whaling ships from South America did not visit Australia. The tortoises collected by Darwin were all recorded in Fitzroy's journals of the voyage, including their measurements. As they averaged in length, and this represented an approximate age of 5 years for the species, Harriet's year of birth was estimated by Scott Thomson to 1830, with a margin of error of two years, in the 1995 paper describing the events of Harriet's life and the results of the research. Some also believe that Harriet was left with the Yabsley family of Coraki who were also on the Beagle. Later life Harriet was thought to be male for many years and was actually named Harry after Harry Oakman, the creator of the zoo at the Brisbane Botanic Gardens, but this was corrected in the 1960s by a visiting director of Hawaii's Honolulu Zoo (as it happens, Tom, the specimen in the Queensland Museum, was also a female). On 15 November 2005, her much-publicized 175th birthday was celebrated at Australia Zoo. This event was attended by Scott Thomson (the researcher on Harriet's history), three generations of the Fleay family, Robin Stewart (author of Darwin's Tortoise), and many hundreds of others who knew this tortoise during the latter part of her life. Harriet died in her enclosure on 23 June 2006 of heart failure following a short illness. Character Harriet was said to be very good-natured. She loved the attention of humans and enjoyed it when people patted her on the scutes (plates which make up the carapace, or upper shell). Harriet spent a majority of her day napping at her home pond. Her favourite food was hibiscus flowers. Timeline ca. 1828–1832: Harriet hatches, probably on Santa Cruz. 1835: Harriet is probably collected by Charles Darwin and taken to England. 1841: Wickham retires from the Royal Navy, moves to Australia and brings three tortoises with him. Lives at Newstead House. 1859: First publication of Darwin's Origin of Species. ca. 1860: Probable time when the three tortoises are placed in the Brisbane Botanical Gardens as Wickham soon left Australia for France.