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The one-thousandth giant tortoise (Geochelone elephantopus hoodensis) to be repatriated to its native Galapagos island of Española was released last week. This is a milestone in a breeding programme begun in 1963 to save a rare tortoise threatened by humans and human-introduced species.
Several centuries of exploitation had left a reduced and dispersed population that was not reproducing. The G. e. hoodensis project began with only 14 tortoises — all that could be found at the time. After being bred in captivity, the tortoises are reintroduced into their natural habitat (see right).
The project is led by the Charles Darwin Research Station on the Galapagos island of Santa Cruz, in conjunction with the Galapagos National Park. The research station now faces the challenge of dealing with many other threatened tortoise species. Officials says it will have succeeded when “humans are no longer needed to lead the tortoises of Española or other islands back home”.
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Loder, N. Giant tortoises come home. Nature 404, 426 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/35006716
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/35006716
