Charlie Darwin Research Centre

  Puerto Ayora, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador Monday, December 7, 2015

The Charles Darwin Research Centre was not far from where we were staying at all so early one morning before it got too hot, we took a wander around there. We are sorry to say it was a bit disappointing really. We expected to see Giant Tortoises wandering around with Iguanas and other amazing creatures. What we found was a load of cactus, lots of plants labelled up nicely, building work, and the Iguanas and Giant Tortoises were all in an enclosure. We later learned that those tortoises were hybrids and could not be released into the wild in case they mated with the island tortoises.The building work is to house Lonesome George when he returns from New York where he was sent to be stuffed after he died. It seems as if he will return to Galapagos once they have somewhere nice to put him. It is afterall right where he belongs If you don't know the story of Lonesome George, here it is - we have taken this extract from the internet (the pictures are ours) Lonesome George, a giant tortoise from the island of Pinta in the northern regions of the Galapagos Archipelago, was the last known survivor of the Pinta tortoise (Chelonoidis abingdoni). He was considered one of the rarest creature in the world and became a conservation icon. As throughout the rest of the islands, Pinta tortoises were over-exploited by whalers, fur sealers, and others in the 1800s. The first potential landfall heading into the islands and the last possible landfall heading home again, Pinta was probably a much used source of tortoises, thus reducing the population to near zero. The Pinta tortoise was thought to be extinct in the early part of the 20th century. Except for the absence of giant tortoises, the island was in near pristine condition until 1959, when fishermen released three goats there. Given the distance to Pinta from port, these fishermen simply wanted fresh meat on their long fishing voyages. The tiny goat population, however, exploded, and by 1970 it was estimated to be around 40,000. The goats had devastated the vegetation and had essentially eliminated any good tortoise habitat left. Then in 1971, József Vágvölgyi, a Hungarian scientist studying snails on Pinta saw a tortoise on the island – Lonesome George. Vágvölgyi recounted his observation back in port, and in the spring of 1972, Galapagos National Park rangers brought the tortoise to the Tortoise Center on Santa Cruz for its protection. The hope was that a female Pinta tortoise would eventually be found – in one of the zoos around the world or perhaps even on Pinta – and Lonesome George would have a breeding partner. Despite extensive searches and genetic analyses of any potential Pinta tortoise found in zoos, none has been located to this day. Within a short time, the discovery of a Pinta tortoise was big news. The American media began to refer to the tortoise as Lonesome George – after George Gobel, a TV comedian, who had become known himself as Lonesome George. The name stuck.  Then, early in the morning on Sunday, June 24th, 2012, Lonesome George — the sole remaining Pinta Island tortoise and Galapagos conservation icon — was found dead in his corral at the Tortoise Breeding and Rearing Center in Puerto Ayora, by members of the Galapagos National Park Service. He had been in relatively good health and his age was estimated at over 100 years old at the time of his passing. His loss will be felt across the world, as it marks the extinction of the Pinta species of tortoise. [gallery columns="4" ids="12822,12833,12839,12847,12864,12875,12882,12893,12910,12921,12941,12953,12971,12985,12996,13008,13018,13024,13041,13055,13066"]