Pat Bean's blog

Lonesome George  ….   Nov. 9, 2009

Lonesome George, the Pinta Island giant tortoise who's the last of his kind. Photo from Wikipedia

This month’s Audubon magazine has a post about Lonesome George possibly becoming a father. I saw George during a visit to the Charles Darwin Research Center on Santa Cruz Island in the Galapagos a few years back. He’s a 90-year-old tortoise and the last of his kind, although he does have some close cousins, two of these being a pair of female Isabella Island tortoises who share his enclosure.

 George was discovered as a sole survivor of his subspecies in 1972. From that time on, it’s been hoped that he would pass on his unique genes, and the Isabella females were selected as potential mates. George, however, proved to be no Don Juan.

Perhaps he’s just a late bloomer, I thought when I read the Audubon nature note. Some of us are. And it’s not that he doesn’t still have a lot of time left to do his begatting. While he’s nearing in on the century mark, these huge tortoises, which never stop growing, can reach the two-century mark.

 Before seeing George at the center, I was privileged to walk among – close enough to touch – the tortoises that roam free on Santa Cruz. One big fellow, who was blocking the trail, hissed at us as we detoured around him. He weighed close to 500 pounds and I gladly gave him the right of way.

 Of the 14 subspecies of Galapagos tortoises know to have existed, 11 survive today. Without the captive breeding program at the center, the number of survivors would certainly be fewer. While it would be nice if George was once again roaming free, it’s nice to know that one day his kind might have the opportunity of doing so.

It’s also comforting to know that there are other humans like myself who share such a hope.