Lone George is the last turtle of one of the subspecies of the giant reptiles that inhabit the Galapagos Islands. He was held in captivity for a long time, which was probably the reason for the sudden death. Lonely George passed away on June 24, 2012. On the day of death, the animal was only 100 years old, which is very small for turtles of this species.
Who was Lone George
There is an assumption that this individual was the last representative of a subspecies of the Abingdon elephant turtles that previously inhabited the islands of the Galapagos archipelago. He was considered a symbol of environmental protection. After death, the body was embalmed and placed as an exhibit in the American Museum of Natural History. On the stand, he looks proud, with his head held high. To some extent, this can be regarded as a mockery, because it was people who were meager by geological standards 100-300 years who brought this subspecies to complete extinction. Of course, if we talk about the practical side of things, then everything is done correctly. After all, now this is the only opportunity to see how these reptiles looked.
The lonely George elephant turtle was the last hope of biologists for the resurrection of this subspecies, but the reptile did not give offspring. This male was called "the most famous bachelor of the world." Unfortunately, he did not find a pair among females of related species.
How did the ancestors of the famous turtle live?
The Galapagos Islands formed from a large volcano gradually, one after another. It was several million years ago. Separating from the raging mountain, the lava islands shifted southeast at an average speed of 7 cm / year. This was enough to form an archipelago of 16 islands.
The harsh climate and scarce soil led to harsh natural selection and the formation of endemic species of animals and plants. Among them are giant turtles. The first to notice this was the famous scientist Charles Darwin, who visited these pieces of land. He found that the shells of giant turtles taken from different islands of the archipelago vary in shape.
There is no drinking water, so to get it, turtles must eat a lot of grass. This circumstance could cause the absence of predators, so they did not have natural enemies.
In addition to turtles, other unique species live on the island - iguanas, endemic birds and reptiles.
The barbaric deeds of "Homo sapiens"
Once the islands were inhabited by a huge number of giant one and a half-two-meter turtles. The weight of these animals was several hundred kilograms. They thrived, as there was always plenty of food. The first settlers began to use reptile meat (and even their cubs) for food. Pieces of the shell served as a frying pan. Since they had meat, it was very convenient. Soup was made from little turtles. Their meat was considered very tender. There was no other acceptable food on the islands.
A huge number of turtles were taken out on ships, where they were also used as provisions. The sailors called them "canned food", as these animals survived for a long time without food and water.
However, the greatest damage to the islands was caused after the resettlement of goats and pigs. They quickly multiplied and began to threaten many island species, putting them on the brink of extinction, because they quickly ate grass - the main food of clumsy reptiles. The island of Pinto suffered the most, with no giant turtles left at all.
To save unique species, in 1974 a program was launched to restore turtles and other rare animals of the archipelago. By that time, about 30-40 thousand goats were already wandering around it. They all had to be removed from there, and this required tremendous effort. Only by 2009, all goats were removed from the Galapagos Islands.
As a result of these actions, the number of giant turtles began to grow again, having increased from 3 thousand in the 70s of the 20th century to 20 thousand by now.
However, the subspecies to which Lone George belonged (Abingdon elephant tortoise) was not saved. Its representatives were destroyed 150 years ago. However, some scientists continue to fight for this species.
