"Lonesome George, No More"

Hello All you Friends of Turtles:

Ah, I've been so busy working on projects (as well as attempting to trim part of "E-Mail Hell") that I missed mentioning World Turtle Day (may 23rd), and World Tortoise Day (May 27). Well, not so with the most recent news in the turtle world, albeit a very sad entry, the death of Lonesome George. For those of you who may not know who Lonesome George is, well, he was the last surviving member of his subspecies of Galapagos Tortoise (Chelonoidis nigra abingdoni). There are currently ten subspecies of Galapagos tortoises still roaming the islands off the coast of Ecuador.

 Lonesome George was the only living member of his subspecies, which lived on Pinta Island in the Galapagos archipelago. I first heard about him in the mid seventies, just a couple years after he was brought to the Charles Darwin Research Center to keep him safe. It appeared that he'd been alone on the island for some time. Off and on I followed his exploits over the years though not to any great degree. Still I would always stop to read any news concerning Lonesome George. There were several expeditions to Pinta Island in the hopes of finding another of George's subspecies but to no avail. He was truly the last of his kind.

There are two shell types found among the various subspecies of Galapagos tortoises; those with dome-shaped shells and those with a shell they call Saddleback because the shell has a similar shape to that of a saddle. Lonesome George was of the saddleback variety which includes the James Island Tortoise and the Hood Island Tortoise, both surviving in low numbers themselves. In fact, the Hood Island Saddlebacks were down to just twelve individuals by the seventies.

Through carefully monitored breeding programs both the Hood and James Island tortoises seem to be making progress with their numbers and appear to be on the road to recovery. Not so for Lonesome George. In the 90's two similar type females from Wolf Volcano on Isabel Island came to live with Lonesome and be his roommates. He ignored them for the most part though there were some eggs after several years though all were infertile. After some more testing it was decided to pull the females as they were really hybrids and not the best choice for George. They replaced them with Hood Island females but there was still no breeding activity. At around a hundred years of age things looked grim.

 Anyway, on Sunday Lonesome George was fond deceased in his habitat area. He had eaten fine on both Friday and Saturday and showed no signs of health problems. Though an autopsy will be performed speculation revolves around George possibly suffering a fatal heart attack. I guess in the coming weeks they'll know for sure. George will be preserved and become part of a new interpretive center for Galapagos Tortoise conservation.

There is still hope that some turtles found in and around Volcan Wolf may harbor genes of the Pinta Island Tortoises. Maybe one day the world will see a partial resurgence of this unique subspecies of Galapagos Tortoise.

 Surely the legacy left behind will live on even long after his passing. His story has done more for creating conservation awareness for many other critically endangered turtles as well as other animals at the brink of extinction. Though Lonesome George may not have been able to father any turtles to carry on the Pinta Island gene his story has helped hatch thousand of "conservation eggs" for other species, including his critically endangered cousins from Hood Island.

 Rest easy my friend, you certainly have done your job in more ways than anyone could ever imagine. Maybe now you'll find your lost brothers and sisters who left Pinta Island long before you. Oh, and by the way, say hello to Archelon for me and tell Chupacabrachelys to stop attacking them goats up there. I hope all of you have a Great Turtley Day!!!
Spawn