The conservationists also retrieved 11 male tortoises and 18 other female tortoises from Wolf Volcano. Melanie Stetson Freeman / The Christian Science Monitor via Getty Images file These reptiles are among the longest-lived of all land. Lonesome George, a Pinta giant tortoise, and the last of his kind at the Charles Darwin Research Station in Santa Cruz, Galapagos on Feb. There are 13 living species of Galpagos tortoises, which are also sometimes called giant tortoises. The new discovery suggests that his subspecies may not be extinct, and that hybrid tortoises with significant Pinta Island lineage could be living elsewhere in the Galápagos, offering conservation scientists hope amid what can often be the bleak work of tracking disappearing species. The giant tortoises of the Galápagos have become greatly depleted since European discovery of the islands in the 16th Century, with populations declining from an estimated 250 000 to between 8000 and 14 000 in the 1970s. Despite numerous breeding attempts, the tortoise had been unable to reproduce.
Spanish common names: Galápago de Pinta, tortuga gigante de Pinta.
Lonesome George died of natural causes in June 2012. English common names: Pinta Giant-Tortoise, Abingdon Island Giant-Tortoise. He was considered one of the rarest creature in the world and became a conservation icon. “We are absolutely thrilled that she was found,” Johannah Barry, president of the Galapagos Conservancy, said. Lonesome George, a giant tortoise from the island of Pinta in the northern regions of the Galapagos Archipelago, was the last known survivor of the Pinta tortoise ( Chelonoidis abingdoni ). He died in Santa Cruz Island, California Scientists and conservationists. The female specimen was found during a recent 10-day expedition to Wolf Volcano, a 5,600 foot tall peak on Isabela Island. The last Pinta Tortoise was named Lonesome George, who lived to be over 100 years old. Researchers at the Galapagos Conservancy Inc., a nonprofit organization headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia, announced that the female tortoise is a direct descendant of the same species from Pinta Island as Lonesome George. But now, conservationists working on Ecuador’s Galápagos Islands have discovered a young female tortoise that is partially related to Lonesome George.
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