News from the Galapagos, giant tortoises restored to Pnta Island

[gayle]

Many of you have heard of Lonesome George, the last surviving tortoise from the island of Pinta.  Efforts to breed him with a closely related female have failed.  I have just heard from the Galapagos Conservancy that a group of animals of a closely related species, raised at Darwin Station, have been released on Pinta.  NBC's Today Show recorded the release.  You can see it here:

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/37466585#37466585

Gayle

[schlaf374]

I did see that on the news this morning.-
 I didn't quite understand why all the new tortoises were sterilized. Is it because even though closely related it's not the same species?  or only because they want to get the island back to it's former state before the goats were introduced.  Just wondering..

[gayle]

Linda, I think this first stage is to restore the island.  i haven't read the total plan.

Gayle

[gayle]

I received this response to my query of Johannah Barry, President of the Galapagos Conservancy:


"While ongoing genetic studies are helping to determine the best analog species with which to
repopulate Pinta, we believed it was  important that tortoises be released onto Pinta as soon as possible to begin the ecosystem "engineering" work.  The decision was made to use the hybrid tortoises held in corrals of the Galapagos National Park on Santa Cruz and Floreana for this purpose. These tortoises are the offspring of tortoises of unknown origin held in captivity during the early years of the GNP (late '60s). Given that one of the main goals of the GNP is to conserve the evolutionary integrity of the archipelago’s biodiversity, release of hybrid tortoises into the wild is unacceptable. Therefore, these tortoises were destined to spend their entire lives—as much as 150 years or more—in captivity. By sterilizing these tortoises, they can now be released into the wild on Pinta as non-reproducing contributors to the restoration of the island’s ecosystem."

Gayle

[schlaf374]

Thanks for getting the answer to my question Gayle