Last Pinta giant tortoise Lonesome George dies
The Lonesome George, a giant tortoise believed to be the last of Chelonoidis Abingdoni subspecies, was found dead Sunday at the Galapagos National Park in Ecuador. Park officials said the tortoise was found dead in his corral by his keeper of 40 years, Fausto Llerena.
Officials carried out a post-mortem to determine the cause of his death as the subspecies is believed to live longer. 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 on the Galapagos island of Pinta in 1972. It was rescued by a group of hunters dedicated to eradicating goats, a species introduced by man that decimated the habitat and carried the giant tortoises of that island on the verge of extinction.
Since then, ‘George' was part of the breeding program in captivity DPNG (Galapagos National Park), who executed various initiatives to try and that it is it playing, initially with females of the species of volcano Wolf, Isabela island, which managed to mate after 15 years of living together, but the eggs were not fertile.
Subsequently, females of the species of the island of Hispaniola, genetically more closely, that was up to now were placed in his poultry.
However, George became a symbol of the Galapagos Islands, which attract some 180,000 visitors a year.
