Floreana Island tortoises returned to the wild

I'm baaaack! 

For a while, they were believed to be extinct. But they weren't quite all gone. A SciAm article describes the return to the Galápagos Floreana island of Floreana tortoises bred in captivity. About 180 years ago the Floreana Island was believed to have lost its unique tortoise, the Floreana giant tortoise (Chelonoidis niger niger). It is a subspecies of the Galápagos giant tortoise. After the arrival of sailors, pirates and a slew of invasive species, the tortoise was believed to have been wiped out. 

Actually, in 2000 scientists found a population of tortoises 70 miles away on Isabela Island. Those critters looked a lot like the Floreana giant tortoise with their distinctive saddle-shaped shells. Genetic testing found that these were hybrid tortoises descended from Floreana giant tortoises. They apparently somehow wound up by accident on Isabela island after being put onboard ships for food. Anyway, 158 of these tortoises with Floreana ancestry are back on Floreana Island, their original home.


Egads! It's an invasion of 
illegal immigrants on Floreana!

Just kidding 🤪


By Germaine: World famous crusader against species extinction

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