A tribute to Lonesome George

I heard the unfortunate news yesterday evening about the fact that George, the last of it’s kind, has passed away. He was the last of the Pinta Island Tortoises, which is one of the 11 subspecies of the Galapagos Turtle. For the last few years, he has been known as the rarest animal in the World. He has become an icon and the symbol of conservation efforts both in the Galapagos islands, and Worldwide.

He was first “discovered” in 1971 by a Hungarian zoologist, and since then he has been taken care of at the Charles Darwin Research Station. The vegetation of his homeland, Pinta island was devastated by the fishermen who introduced goats to the island. It is believed that they are to blame for killing out all the turtles.

image via Telegraph

Scientists have made efforts in mating George with one of his closest relatives, the Espanola tortoise (they even tried with two lady turtles), but even though some eggs were laid, they couldn’t hatch, thus eliminating the possibility of him having descendants to invigorate his own species. The causes of his death are still unknown, but scientists had a longer life expectancy for him, so a necropsy is in plan.

Lonesom

e George- believed to be more than 100 years old died Sunday morning, leaving humanity short of an animal species. I think that we all have a lesson to learn here, and need to be more careful and pay more attention to the animals we live with. Otherwise, they could be gone in no time. Makes you think, doesn’t it?

Rest in peace, Lonesome George, the World will surely miss you!