Last year in the Galapagos the last giant tortoise had disappeared. A very serious loss that testifies to the state of suffering of some species. But today good news has arrived from the Galapagos. The giant tortoise has returned to live in its natural habitat. After more than 100 years, new specimens of giant tortoises have been born on Pinzòn Island
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves him
Last year in the Galapagos thelast specimen of giant tortoise. A very serious loss that testifies to the state of suffering of some species. But today good news has arrived from the Galapagos. There giant turtle has returned to live in its natural habitat. After more than 100 years, new specimens of giant tortoises have been born a Pinzòn Island.
The fate of their species after the disappearance of the last specimen, seemed scarred but the intense work of some volunteers meant that the subspecies that once lived on the island returned there, after being almost wiped out by the arrival of pirates, fishermen and others invasive species, especially rats, over the centuries. In this case, the greatest threat to Pinzón Island turtles (Chelonoidis nigra duncanensis) was black rats (Rattus rattus voraci) and Norwegian rats (R. norvegicus), which in recent years had eaten turtle eggs and their young.
Le old turtles they know how to defend themselves from rats, but the smaller ones have not been able to do so, so they have not been able to reproduce and guarantee a future for their species, after the death of the oldest. Since the beginning of XX century it was found that no young turtles had survived on the island to adulthood.
But after more than 100 years, i Infants Galapagos giant tortoises once again had a chance to grow and survive on their native Pinzón Island, after conservationists pushed the rats off the island.
Volunteers began their work to bring the turtles home as early as 1965, welcoming as many animals and keeping them safe through captive breeding programs. The new offspring were then reared on other islands and brought back to Pinzón Isola, once they became large enough, but the impossibility of raising them directly on their native island had still meant that this subspecies was classified as extinct in the wild.
The next step started a couple of years ago when the Galapagos National Park and its partners have launched an eradication program for rats and other invasive species across the archipelago, starting with smaller islands like Pinzón, which was overrun by 180 million rats last year.
The project has already moved to the larger islands, including Floreana, which is 10 times the size of Pinzón and is home to more than 40 threatened species. There turtle giant is so successful after 100 years to go home.
Francesca Mancuso
Photo: Flickr
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