世界上现存最古老的宠物——乌龟汤米，今年121岁

世界上现存最古老的宠物——乌龟汤米，今年121岁

A tortoise named Tommy has become the world’s oldest living pet after celebrating her 121st birthday this week — and boy, has she seen a thing or two.

一只名叫汤米的乌龟在本周庆祝了121岁生日后，成为了世界上现存最古老的宠物——孩子，还有她没见过的事吗?。

The endangered Hermann’s tortoise has been in the same British family since she was purchased for £1 in 1909, living through 21 US presidents, six different English monarchs and two world wars.

1909年，这只濒临灭绝的赫尔曼乌龟以1英镑的价格被买下。自那以后，它一直生活在同一个英国家庭里，经历了21位美国总统、6位不同的英国君主和两次世界大战。

“She’s been through the family all these years and we all love her to bits,” owner Sheila Floris told the UK Metro on Monday.

主人希拉·弗洛里斯于本周一接受《英国地铁报》采访时说:“她和我们家一起生活了这么多年，我们都非常爱她。”

Tommy was born in 1898 and was purchased by Sheila’s grandmother Margaret Cloonan when she was already 11 years old.

汤米出生于1898年，在希拉11岁的时候被她的祖母玛格丽特·克鲁南买下。

At that time, William McKinley was the US president and Queen Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

当时，威廉·麦金利是美国总统，维多利亚女王是大不列颠及爱尔兰联合王国的君主。

New York City as we know it today didn’t exist, either. The five boroughs were separate counties before they were consolidated by mayor Robert Van Wyck that year.

我们今天所知道的纽约市也不存在。这五个区在被市长范怀克(Robert Van Wyck)于当年合并之前是独立的县。

Floris, 62, has been caring for Tommy since she was 5 years old and said the beloved pet was mistaken for a boy until she began laying eggs.

62岁的弗洛里斯从5岁起就开始照顾汤米，她说这只可爱的宠物被误认为是男孩，直到她开始下蛋。

“It was too late to change the name so the name has stuck ever since,” she said.

她说:“改名字已经太晚了，所以这个名字一直沿用至今。”

“She was lovely to grow up with. I remember her racing around the garden and being quite speedy.”

“她长大后很可爱。我记得她在花园里跑来跑去，速度很快。”

The Surrey woman says Tommy hibernates six months of each year and has never been taken to the vet — crediting her excellent bill of health to plenty of love and a healthy diet of garden weeds.

这位萨里郡的妇女说，汤米每年冬眠6个月，从来没有去看过兽医。她把汤米的健康状况归功于充足的爱和健康的饮食习惯。

“Tommy still makes us laugh by racing around the garden, if I go outside I’ll call her name and she’ll come out to me,” Floris said.

弗洛里斯说:“汤米还在花园里跑来跑去逗我们笑，如果我要出去，我会叫她的名字，她就会出来找我。”

Most Hermann’s tortoises typically live to be 50 and are native to Turkey, eastern Italy and Greece.

大多数赫尔曼龟的寿命通常为50岁，原产于土耳其、意大利东部和希腊。

They were listed as an endangered species in 2012 and are known for having individual personalities and developing a bond with their owners, according to Petguide.com.

据Petguide.com网站报道，2012年，赫尔曼龟被列为濒危物种，以个性独特、与主人关系密切而闻名。

Tommy is also about to outlive the world’s oldest person, Jean Calment, who lived to be 122 until her death in 1997.

汤米还将比世界上最长寿的人让·卡尔门特——1997年去世，享年122岁——活得更久。

“She’s like a family member,” Floris said. “She’s like a duchess, we’ve all grown up with her.”

“她就像一个家庭成员，”弗洛里斯说。“就像个公爵夫人，我们都和她一起长大。”