Her birthdate is depending partly on the story that Harriet was foremost captured by Charles Darwin in 1835 on the Galapagos Islands. When a tortoises were so dinner shell sized these are judged it would stand been six years old.

There exists a select few doubt when to the accuracy of this story, notwithstanding Darwin did catch troika tortoises & took the babies personal to Britain aboard HMS Beagle. Within 1841 the three returned to the Beagle & were bring around the Australia botanical gardens within Brisbane. In the 1920s the records on the animals were destroyed inside the flood & when Harriet moved between zoos any link between her & a notable naturalist was forgotten. It was non until 1992 that testing determined she was the tortoise of the Galápagos Islands & was above 142 years old.