Alaafin’s Famous Palace Tortoise Baba Dies as 420-Year Age Claim Sparks Debate

A famous tortoise known as Baba, which lived for generations at the palace of the Alaafin of Oyo, has died, bringing renewed attention to an extraordinary claim that the animal was 420 years old. The Alaafin’s Palace confirmed Baba’s death through its Director of Media and Publicity, Bode Durojaiye. According to the palace account, the tortoise died on Monday, September 14, 2026, after a brief illness during which it stopped eating. Baba was subsequently buried at the palace. For people familiar with the ancient Oyo Kingdom, however, Baba was more than a palace animal. The tortoise had become a cultural attraction and was regarded by the palace as a living connection to generations of royal history. Palace traces Baba to old Oyo Empire According to the palace, oral tradition holds that Baba was brought from Oyo-Ile, the former centre of the Oyo Empire, to the present-day palace in Oyo town. The tortoise was said to have been cared for by successive Alaafins, with each generation inheriting responsibility for the animal as part of the palace's historical heritage. Bode Durojaiye described Baba as an important part of the oral history surrounding the Yoruba royal institution. Over time, the animal also became a tourist attraction. Visitors reportedly came to the Alaafin's palace partly for an opportunity to see the unusually old tortoise. Two palace officials were assigned to look after Baba, according to the palace account. Its regular food reportedly included watermelon, grass and corn pap wrapped in leaves. Baba remained at the palace until falling ill shortly before its death. Was Baba really 420 years old? While Baba's death has been confirmed by the palace and widely reported by Nigerian news organisations, the claim that the tortoise lived for 420 years has generated questions among scientists and members of the public. There is currently no publicly presented scientific evidence establishing that Baba was 420 years old. The figure comes principally from oral history associated with the palace rather than documented evidence establishing when the tortoise hatched. https://twitter.com/i/status/2100837955690528989 Leadership newspaper reported that Dr Adetunji Adewale of the Department of Zoology at the University of Ibadan questioned the biological plausibility of the claim. Adewale said an extraordinary lifespan claim would require scientific examination and historical documentation before it could be treated as verified. The controversy becomes clearer when Baba's reported age is compared with internationally documented tortoise longevity. Guinness World Records currently recognises Jonathan, a Seychelles giant tortoise living on St Helena, as the world's oldest known living terrestrial animal. Jonathan is believed to have been born around 1832 and is estimated to be at least 194 years old in 2026. His estimated age is supported partly by historical evidence showing that he was already fully grown when he arrived on St Helena in 1882. If Baba had actually lived for 420 years, the tortoise would have been born around 1606 — more than two centuries before Jonathan's estimated birth. Such longevity would therefore represent an exceptional scientific finding, but no equivalent documentary or scientific evidence establishing Baba's reported age has been made public. For that reason, Baba's 420-year lifespan is more accurately described as a palace tradition or unverified age estimate rather than a scientifically established fact. Another famous Oyo tortoise attracted similar attention Baba's story is not the first time an exceptionally old palace tortoise in Oyo State has attracted international attention. In 2019, another famous tortoise called Alagba died at the palace of the Soun of Ogbomoso. Alagba was widely reported to have lived for 344 years and had similarly become a major attraction for visitors. However, questions were also raised about that age. Following Alagba's death, a palace official explained that nobody living at the time had witnessed the tortoise's original arrival at the palace. Its estimated age had instead been calculated using historical accounts about the reign of the monarch believed to have brought it there. The similarity highlights the difficulty of scientifically verifying the ages of animals whose histories have largely been preserved through oral tradition. Cultural significance remains regardless of age dispute Whatever Baba's exact biological age, the disagreement does not erase the cultural role the tortoise came to occupy within the Alaafin's palace. The animal survived long enough to become closely associated with the royal institution, and the palace says successive monarchs encountered and cared for it. Its longevity, stories surrounding its origins and presence inside one of Yorubaland's most historically significant royal institutions turned Baba into an attraction in its own right. The palace described the tortoise as a link between generations and part of Oyo's oral history. Baba's death therefore leaves two different stories behind. One is a cultural story about an animal that became deeply connected with the traditions and memories of an ancient Yoruba kingdom. The other is a scientific question that remains unanswered: exactly how old was Baba? Unless historical records or scientific analysis capable of establishing the animal's age emerge, the widely reported figure of 420 years remains an extraordinary claim rooted in palace oral tradition rather than a verified biological record.