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Survey finds about 180,000 giant tortoises on Seychelles' Aldabra Atoll

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Coverage spectrum

Covered by 3 outlets, mostly right-leaning (67%).

3 articles in total. The spectrum counts each outlet once and leaves opinion out. How we measure bias

A survey led by the Seychelles Islands Foundation and the University of Exeter estimates that about 180,000 Aldabra giant tortoises live on Aldabra Atoll in Seychelles. The figure is based on five years of counts from 2018 to 2022 and is the first update since a widely cited estimate of 100,000 from the late 1990s. Researchers describe it as the highest ever recorded for the species, and it exceeds the human population of Seychelles. Dr Frauke Fleischer-Dogley, chief executive of the Seychelles Islands Foundation, said the numbers show what long-term conservation can achieve. The species was once endangered.

Headline and summary written by Mantle’s AI from the coverage below, under published rules. How this works

What happened

Key points

Each point shows who reports it, from Far Left to Far Right.

  1. A survey estimates about 180,000 Aldabra giant tortoises live on Aldabra Atoll in Seychelles.

    Reported byLeft1Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    The Guardian
    Right
    New York Post

  2. The survey was led by the Seychelles Islands Foundation and the University of Exeter, using counts from 2018 to 2022.

    Reported byLeft1Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    The Guardian
    Right
    New York Post

  3. The count is the highest ever recorded for the species and the first update since a late 1990s estimate of 100,000.

    Reported byLeft1Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    The Guardian
    Right
    New York Post

  4. The tortoise population exceeds the human population of Seychelles.

    Reported byLeft1Right2See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    The Guardian
    Right
    New York Post, The Washington Times

  5. Seychelles Islands Foundation chief executive Frauke Fleischer-Dogley said the figure shows what long-term conservation can achieve.

    Reported byLeft1Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    The Guardian
    Right
    New York Post

How each side tells it

Compare views

  • the left

    1 outlet

    The headline leads with the researchers' count and presents the species' recovery as a conservation success.

    Researchers find 180,000 giant tortoises living on island in Seychelles
    The GuardianLeftAll left-leaning headlines

  • the center

    No coverage yet

    No center outlet that Mantle follows has covered this story yet. That absence is part of the picture.

  • the right

    2 outlets

    The New York Post headline stresses the species thriving and the 180,000 figure, while The Washington Times leads with the comparison that tortoises outnumber Seychelles' human population.

    Scientists find that Seychelles' giant tortoises outnumber human population
    The Washington TimesRightAll right-leaning headlines

The words they chose

Language to notice

Words that carry a judgement beyond the facts. Tap a highlighted word anywhere on the page to see why.

Mantle found no loaded language in this coverage. Every headline and opening was checked against Mantle’s published word list, and Mantle’s AI read all 3 articles in context. Straight reporting often has none.

See for yourself

Side by side

What each side leads with and what it leaves out. Open a side to read its headlines.

From the left

1 outlet

Leads with

  • conservation success
  • record population count
  • five years of survey data
See the headline from the leftHide the headlines
  • The GuardianLeft

    Researchers find 180,000 giant tortoises living on island in Seychelles

    Figure is highest ever recorded for species and confirms one of Indian Ocean’s greatest conservation success stories A landmark survey of the world’s largest free-roaming giant tortoise population has revealed the once endangered species is thriving. …

    Read at The Guardian (opens in a new tab)

From the center

0 outlets

No center outlet that Mantle follows has covered this story yet. That absence is part of the picture.

From the right

2 outlets

Leads with

  • species thriving
  • tortoises outnumber people
See the 2 headlines from the rightHide the headlines

Articles you open from here build My Mix, a private picture of how your reading spreads across the spectrum, kept on this device. What is My Mix?

The left is Far Left and Left together. The right is Right and Far Right together. Every outlet keeps its own five-point rating.

Who reported it when

How the coverage built up

  • Left

    First to report

    The Guardian, Oct 8, 12:11 PM EDT

  • Center

    No report yet

    From the outlets Mantle follows

  • Right

    5 min later

    Its first report, Oct 8, 12:17 PM EDT

See the order the outlets reported inHide the order
  1. The GuardianLeftOct 8, 12:11 PM EDT
  2. New York PostRightOct 8, 12:17 PM EDT
  3. The Washington TimesRightOct 9, 11:36 AM EDT

Times are the ones the outlets published in their own feeds, in Eastern time. Opinion is left out.

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