Lonesome George dies, Galapagos giant tortoise becomes extinct
30 replies, posted
[quote]
Staff at the Galapagos National Park in Ecuador say Lonesome George, a giant tortoise believed to be the last of its subspecies, has died.
Scientists estimate he was about 100 years old.
Park officials said they would carry out a post-mortem to determine the cause of his death.
With no offspring and no known individuals from his subspecies left, Lonesome George became known as the rarest creature in the world.
For decades, environmentalists unsuccessfully tried to get the Pinta Island tortoise to reproduce with females from a similar subspecies on the Galapagos Islands.
Park officials said the tortoise was found dead in his corral by his keeper of 40 years, Fausto Llerena.
While his exact age was not known, Lonesome George was estimated to be about 100, which made him a young adult as the subspecies can live up to an age of 200.
Lonesome George was first seen by a Hungarian scientist Joseph Vágvölgyi on the Galapagos island of Pinta in 1972.
Environmentalists had believed his subspecies (Chelonoidis nigra abingdoni) had become extinct.
Lonesome George became part of the Galapagos National Park breeding programme.
After 15 years of living with a female tortoise from the nearby Wolf volcano, Lonesome George did mate, but the eggs were infertile.
He also shared his corral with female tortoises from Espanola island, which are genetically closer to him than those from Wolf volcano, but Lonesome George failed to mate with them.
He became a symbol of the Galapagos Islands, which attract some 180,000 visitors a year.
Galapagos National Park officials said that with George's death, the Pinta tortoise subspecies has become extinct.
They said his body would probably be embalmed to conserve him for future generations.
Tortoises were plentiful on the Galapagos islands until the late 19th century, but were later hunted for their meat by sailors and fishermen to the point of extinction.
Their habitat furthermore suffered when goats were introduced from the mainland.
The differences in appearance between tortoises from different Galapagos islands were among the features which helped the British naturalist Charles Darwin formulate his theory of evolution.
Some 20,000 giant tortoises of other subspecies still live on the Galapagos.
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[img]http://kep.index.hu/1/0/307/3073/30739/3073934_d682416153a4f9af00e64c6af56b0aae_wm.jpg[/img]
[url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-18574279]Source[/url]
Some day, we too will become extinct.
There still are giant tortoise, just not of this particular sub species. Iirc each island has their own sub species, all are in trouble. This is still sad. Poor guy.
Well we can hope he isn't alone anymore.
Wasn't this posted a bunch of hours ago?
It's still sad news.
[QUOTE=usaokay;36482027]Well, shit.[/QUOTE]
is that all you can say ?
[QUOTE=Native Hunter;36482056]is that all you can say ?[/QUOTE]
I didn't know Lonesome George, i didn't know his relatives, or his family. But i was, and are, encouraged by his spirit and will to fight on. My sympathies go towards his family, and let his neverending zest be a reminder to us all that we are mortals. Amen.
grow up
I had a pet tortoise that I lost in march, it's a shame that he will never grow as big as Lonesome George did.
[IMG]http://media.giantbomb.com/uploads/0/8179/350662-big_boss_salute_super.jpg[/IMG]
And that's another (sub)species gone. I hope Giant Tortoise heaven is awesome, Lonesome George. Hopefully you ain't so lonesome anymore.
Damn, that's a shame, I saw him 2 years ago.
It still amazes me how old turtles live to be...guess that helped stave this dreadful moment off for awhile. RIP, George, you total bro of a tortoise.
What a shame
[QUOTE=Arachnidus;36493293]It still amazes me how old [B]turtles[/B] live to be...guess that helped stave this dreadful moment off for awhile. RIP, George, you total bro of a tortoise.[/QUOTE]
Dammit, man, it's a tortoise! Although turtles can get pretty old, too!
That's weird, there is a Galapagos giant tortoise in Perth zoo.
[QUOTE=Mysterious Mr.E;36482009]Well we can hope he isn't alone anymore.[/QUOTE]
He is in Valhalla with his turtle brothers.
[QUOTE=Leader of Me;36493756]That's weird, there is a Galapagos giant tortoise in Perth zoo.[/QUOTE]
Of a different subspecies.
[QUOTE=DienDwemar;36494010]He is in Valhalla with his turtle brothers.[/QUOTE]
Turtles go to Valhalla, tortoises go to Sovngarde!
Aren't they the species that is so incredibly tasty it took them 50 years to get a living sample back to Britain
[video=youtube;oHNCOqWX6Hc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHNCOqWX6Hc[/video]
Going to miss you george
I'm probably being optimistic here, but maybe one day if medicine advances enough, we can clone them and bring back the species?
[QUOTE=LtKyle2;36496034]I'm probably being optimistic here, but maybe one day if medicine advances enough, we can clone them and bring back the species?[/QUOTE]
There're still hybrids with the genome of George's species, so there's a possibility
[quote]After 15 years of living with a female tortoise from the nearby Wolf volcano, Lonesome George did mate[/quote]
that sure is taking it slow
Aren't these the tortoises that are apparently really delicious?
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4k-l1HLj9Nk[/media]
Rest in Peace, Lonesome George. Rest in peace..
This sucks. I saw him a few years back. R.I.P, George.
What a misleading title.
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