Scientists who were with him cried because they thought they witnessed the extinction of an amazing creature. He died in 2012, never having successfully mated.They offered an award of $10,000 for anyone to find him a female to mate with. Many scientists say George was the last surviving tortoise in his subspecies.He was brought to the Darwin Research Station in 1972. George was first discovered on the island of Pinta on November 1st, 1971.When ships began arriving to the islands, they brought rats, cats, dogs, goats, and other farm animals who not only ate trampled tortoises nests and ate tortoise eggs, but also devoured the same plants the tortoises ate.
Pirates and whalers took Galapagos tortoises on their ships as food because they could last a long time without eating and provided the men with fresh meat.George was a type of tortoise called a “saddleback ” you can see in my photo above how his shell is shaped like a saddle instead of a dome.George was thought to be over 100 years old. The longest living Tortoise is 326 years. The lifespan of a tortoise is 80-150 years.Their very long necks help them reach high food. Contrary to turtles, tortoises live on land, have heavy shells and short, sturdy feet.There, at the Charles Darwin Research Station, we met Lonesome George along with other Galápagos tortoises. When I studied abroad in Ecuador, I had the amazing opportunity to travel to the Galapagos Islands, an archipelago of volcanic islands that straddle the equator to the west of Ecuador’s coast in the Pacific.
This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for your support! Lonesome George at the Charles Darwin Research Station, photograph taken in December 2006 by Minglex (CC)
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