Pinta Island Lonesome George

The Galapagos Islands, a collection of small groups of land, located in the Pacific Ocean near the equator and belonging to Ecuador, have long been known as the only place on planet earth where giant turtles roam.

One of the islands of the Galapagos is Pinta Island, also known as Abingdon Island, after the Earl of Abingdon – England, which is home to a single giant tortoise, Lonesome George, perhaps the most famous tortoise in the world.

Lonesome George is the only living member of his race and scientists are frantically searching to find George a mate to prevent this rare giant tortoise specy from becoming extinct.  Already considered extinct before, rangers discovered Lonesome George in 1971.  Since then, no other specie has been located of this rare animal.

The Charles Darwin Research Station that looks after Lonesome George, has offered $10,000 reward to anyone who can find a female tortoise for Lonesome George to have babies with and guarantee the continued existence of the Pinta tortoises.

Once there were millions of giant tortoises. In the age of the dinosaurs they covered most of the Americas, Europe and Asia.  As planetary conditions changed, those that weren’t able to adapt and compete for food died out.

Among those animals that adapted to the conditions were the giant tortoises. They landed on 10 of the islands and warmed to the conditions of each. On arid, sparsely vegetated islands such as Pinta and Espanola only those with flared up shells and longer necks could reach the high-growing plants.

Lonesome George is the last one of the flared up shells, long necks turtles alive.  George is estimated to be between 60 and 90 years old and is in overall good health.  In an effort to reproduce his species, Lonesome George was once penned with two females of a different subspecies, but although eggs have been produced on more than one occasion, none have hatched.

Another male tortoise by the name of Tony, who currently resides in a Prague zoo, has recently been discovered as most likely being an additional pure breed, native, Pinta tortoise. Believed to be born around 1960, Tony has been housed in the zoo since 1972.

PeterPritchard, one of the world’s foremost authorities on Galápagos tortoises (and of tortoises and turtles of the world more generally), has found the shell on Tony to be extremely similar to that of George and Pinta museum specimens. Research is still currently being processed to confirm this match and Tony is still being held at the Prague zoo.

The $10,000 award to find Lonesome George a female Pinta tortoise has still gone unclaimed as efforts continue to keep the rarest animal on the planet from going extinct.

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