World's rarest tortoise dies in Ecuador with more than 100 years

Lonesome George the last surviving subspecies of giant tortoises Chelonoidis Abingdoni was found dead on Monday (25/06) in their fold, the Galapagos National Park. In a statement, the direction of the reserve specifies that the handler Fausto Llerena, responsible for the care of the animal, discovered in the morning that the turtle was not moving. It was only to check his vital signs that Llerena concluded that George was no longer alive. "The body of the turtle was in a position like you were going to the trough of water," explains the direction of the park. There is still no information about possible causes of death, which will be evaluated from the autopsy of Jorge. He currently sits in a cooling chamber for retarding the decomposition process. No one knows the age of the animal, which, according to those in the park, "exceeds one hundred years." This turtle is originally from Pinta Island, the northernmost formation of the Galapagos Archipelago. It was rescued in 1972 by a group of hunters who sought to eradicate goats introduced artificially in the region and destroyed the habitat islands. This process of devastation caused the giant tortoises present on the island beirassem extinction. Since then, George was integrated into the captive breeding program in the park and went through several attempts at reproduction. After 15 years together with specimens of Isabela Island, finally accepted a partner, but was unable to give fertile eggs. Edwin Naula, director of DPNG, mentioned that the Galapagos National Park will lead the next month of July an international workshop to develop management strategies and recovery of turtle populations for the next ten years. "The workshop will take place in honor of George Solitaire." This is because "his legacy will be a greater effort in research and management techniques to restore the island Pinta and all other populations of giant tortoises of the Galapagos." The Galapagos Islands owe their name to the large turtles that live in its territory rich in marine and terrestrial biodiversity. The archipelago is considered including the natural laboratory that allowed the British biologist Charles Darwin develop his theory of natural selection of species. The archipelago is located about one thousand kilometers of continental coasts of Ecuador and was declared Patrimony of Humanity by Unesco in 1978.