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I live in Pennsylvania and I was wondering if I could own one? I am willing to pay whatever amount and age does not matter. Any info would be amazing, thanks.

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    You can get a sulcata tortoise; they get up to 100-200 pounds and live for 70 years. They are very problematic pets, for the same reasons as the Galapagos tortoises, but they are legal and easily found.
    – prosfilaes
    Commented Aug 4, 2022 at 19:33

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They are on the CITES appendix I list. This means that the trade is heavily regulated and export is prohibited.

All in all, nope. Not going to happen, unless you are a zoo.

You should also consider the age these tortoises grow to. They can reach 200 years. This means that they will very likely outlive you, should you get your hands on them. With that, you are no longer able to guarantee the wellbeing of the animal for its entire lifespan. That's not ethical.

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  • love the pillars of creation btw. I plan on, once i get older to have a farm and honestly the galapagos tortoises are my favorite and yes i completely know their age and needs etc, and i’m willing to get one that may be older, or keeping it in the family or something but do you know of any places i could own one? states specifically?
    – just trying to figure this out
    Commented Aug 31, 2018 at 0:09
  • I'm not from the states, so sadly I am not up to speed with specific laws. CITES does protect captive bred animals slightly less strictly, so you might get lucky with that. As an alternative you could also look for other tortoise species. There are plenty that do get sizable, but aren't as strictly regulated.
    – JAD
    Commented Aug 31, 2018 at 6:25
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No. If you like the galapagos tortoise so much, you'll leave it where it belongs, seeing as it's an endangered species.

Furthermore, as according to Wikipedia: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galápagos_tortoise

"Slow growth rate, late sexual maturity, and island endemism make the tortoises particularly prone to extinction without help from conservationists."

Individual animals of long lived, slow breeding species like the Galapagos Tortoise are much more important to the overall survival of the species than an individual animal of a short lived, fast breeding species. In other words, every individual Galapagos Tortoise is very important, and should remain in the overall population.

In addition, also as mentioned in the article, the Galapagos Islands are owned by the country of Ecuador which has passed a law banning removal of any species from the island, including the Galapagos Tortoise. It is basically impossible to acquire one legally.

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    @DekoRevinio: if the dream is about contributing to the extinction of a species, then that dream needs to be crushed as early as possible. The extermination of tortoises, as well as of people, is the kind of dream that needs "crushing" (to use your word). If OP wants to contribute to the saving of the species, he can join any of the legal entities involved with those kinds of activities.
    – virolino
    Commented Apr 19, 2023 at 6:07
  • @virolino I guess before anyone considers owning one we need to reestablish the species. Which I doubt will happen in any of our lifetimes.
    – Deko Revinio
    Commented Apr 19, 2023 at 19:39
  • @DekoRevinio: I have no idea what will happen in the future. I cannot read the future. Not the future of my life, not the future beyond my life. I just hope that good things will happen.
    – virolino
    Commented Apr 20, 2023 at 6:15

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