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We often attribute Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution to his visit to the Galapagos Islands in 1835. In fact, it could be argued that Darwin’s visit to the archipelago remains of the most famous few weeks in the history of science. But what were these intriguing creatures that he and other early explorers to the world famous archipelago encountered?
Interestingly, the word galápago is an old Spanish word that means ‘tortoise’, and indeed the Giant Galapagos tortoises, which exist nowhere else on Earth, are arguably the most well-known of all of the islands’ inhabitants.
And among these fascinating creatures, one in particular stood out as ambassador of the Galapagos Islands, and global conservation in general. Lonesome George, the last of his species of Pinta Island giant Galapagos Islands tortoises became the most famous inhabitant in of all the islands over the course of his life. This is the story of Lonesome George, and the ongoing legacy he left to us all.
Credit: Peter Krahenbuhl
Historically Galápagos tortoises were hunted mercilessly for meat and oil from the 17th Century by pirates, and through the 19th Century by whaling ships, primarily because these gentle creatures were able to last long periods of time without food and water. In fact, many species and subspecies were hunted to extinction, including the subspecies on tiny Pinta Island. Or so we thought…
In 1971, wardens from Galapagos National Park were hunting feral (nonnative) goats on Pinta Island who were devastating the natural landscape. Amazingly, during this effort they encountered a single male tortoise (the last reported sighting of giant tortoises on Pinta Island had been back in 1906). They later named him Lonesome George after the American TV comedian George Gobel, who was nicknamed guess what, ‘Lonesome George’. Lonesome George quickly became known as the last of his sub-species. As a result, he became an icon for conservation in the Galapagos Islands and for the crisis of animal extinction due to human causes.
Attempts at mating Lonesome George over many decades failed, possibly due to the lack of a female of his own kind. However, many attempts at encouraging Lonesome George to mate with other subspecies of giant tortoises almost proved successful. In fact, in 2008 it appeared that Lonesome George had mated with one of his possible female companions. Her eggs were collected and incubated at the Captive Breeding Center, but after not hatching in the expected time researchers identified that the eggs were never fertilized.
Lonesome George lived to be approximately 100 years old when he passed away in June of 2012. And sadly, Lonesome George’s death meant the last of the known purebred individuals of Chelonoidis abingdoni native to Pinta Island, marking the extinction of one of 10 surviving giant tortoise species from the Galápagos Archipelago. But he left us so much to be thankful for, and his legacy will live on.
Although Lonesome George now ‘lives’ in a museum, you can still experience many of his closest relatives first hand, along with an abundance of other incredible wildlife on a Natural Habitat Galapagos Adventure.
