Today we visited the Charles Darwin Research Station. Galapagos Islands is home to the famous Galapagos Tortoise, which fully grown can weigh up to 500 pounds and reach 6 feet in length. During our visit to the Research Station we saw tortoises at all stages of growth from unhatched eggs to full-grown adults.
These slow-moving animals were easy prey for pirates and colonists who used them for food and money which led to a threatening decline in numbers in the late 1970’s. This is why today great care is taken to ensure the Galapagos Tortoises bring their numbers back up. The hatcheries help make sure the tortoises get to a big enough size to where they have a better chance of surviving once released back to the island.
Lonesome George is the most famous tortoise of them all! He became the face of the Galapagos Islands and an icon for conservation. After the drastic decline in subspecies, Lonesome George was the only known living individual from his specific subspecies until his recent death in 2012. The loss of any subspecies is seen as a tragedy by biologist and the general public.
Unfortunately, no George. But Jenesa did get to meet Charlie! Natural selection was Darwin’s most novel and revolutionary idea....Survival of the Fittest!....and it began here in the Galapagos in 1835.
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