World's Oldest Animal? Meet Alagba, a Legendary 330-year-old Male Tortoise in Oyo State (Photos)

 

A legendary male tortoise named Alagba, who is believed to be 330 years, is still alive and is said to be residing at the palace of Ogbomoso king in Oyo State.

 

The giant male land tortoise who lumbers about in the palace is popularly called "the elderly one", is believed to be older than everyone in Ogbomoso as permutations about its true age relies heavily on oral history. 

 

 

It was learnt that its present age was gotten by situating it with the period of the Soun who reigned when Alagba was allegedly brought to the palace by Soun Ikumoyede Ajao, the third Soun of Ogbomoso, who is believed to have been born sometime in the late 16th century and who reigned in the 17th.

 

The secretary of the current Soun,  Ajamu Oluwatoyin, disclosed that dating of the kingship of Ogbomoso was started by the elite in 1797 during the reign of Oba Toyeje Akanni (1797 to 1825), the fourth Soun and one time Are Ona Kakanfo (the Yoruba Nation Generalissimo).

 

Tourism is never complete in Oyo State without visiting the ancient giant male land tortoise.It is a sacrilege to call Alagba a mere tortoise in Ogbomosoland.