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Pinta island turtle2/29/2024 With the entry of introduced species such as rats, cats, dogs, pigs, donkeys, goats and livestock, they even put the terrestrial turtles in greater danger because these animals fed on the plants that the turtles ate, feed on their eggs or offspring, and trample upon their nests that are in the ground. During the 1800s, 96 boats took more than 13000 turtles in a period of 37 years, many of them put on display on mainland piers such as Guayaquil. The cook cut a part of the living tortoise, kept the rest and so continued with the rest of the tortoises. As there were no freezers or refrigerators where the sailors could put fresh meat, turtles became their ideal food source. Photo by: CDF Library Archives.Īccording to early records, two centuries ago there were thousands of turtles on the islands no one knew the archipelago until 1535, when the ship carrying the Bishop Tomas de Berlanga to Peru found a safe place in the still unknown Galapagos Islands. Lonesome George showing his long neck and saddle-type shell. The chelonian, named because of the name of its species, probably lived more than 100 years, according to our senior researcher, Dr. George had a saddle-type shell that allowed him to raise his neck to reach leaves of tall bushes to feed. There are 15 species of tortoises in the archipelago, which have a shape and size perfectly adapted to the place where they live. "George was a member of my family, I honored him this way because, of the many tortoises there were, he was the closest and dearest by everybody" Fausto Llerena said after having cared for George for so many years. The Breeding Center where he will be exhibited now have the name of this park ranger and is managed by the Galapagos National Park Directorate. The Lonesome, as he was affectionately called, received food in the morning from his caretaker, Fausto Llerena, who took care of him since his arrival at CDRS in 1972. George lived at the Charles Darwin Research Station (CDRS) on Santa Cruz Island for four decades. This February 23rd, the Government of Ecuador through the Ministry of the Environment brings back from the Museum of Natural History of New York, the embalmed body of the giant tortoise native of Pinta Island, Lonesome George, who was one of the most famous reptiles in the world for having been the last surviving individual of the species Chelonoidis abingdoni.
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