Galapagos Tortoise

Galapagos Tortoise

This is among the unique creatures many think of when they imagine The Galapagos Islands.

They live to be more than 100 years old and grow to giants. Legend says, Darwin himself brought one of these animals to England and it ultimately ended up in Australia, where it died - at 176 years old - this past June. At one time there were more than 250,000 of these giants among the islands. Today, there are around 25,000.

Many were taken off the islands by 18th century whalers when they realized the tortoises could go without food for more than a year. They were easily captured by the crews of these ships, kept in the holds and killed and eaten when food was scarce and the ships far out at sea. Since there was no refrigeration and some whaling voyages could last several years, they made very effective food stores.

But the tortoises managed to outlast the whales and as the whaling industry collapsed, the remaining tortoises were spared. Although some subspecies have ceased completely to exist.

This one was shot at a new breeding facility called El Galapaguero.

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