After growing up in the safe haven of responsible captivity , a mathematical group of 36 queer giant tortoise ( Chelonoidis chatamensis ) are ultimately graduating to their ancestral homeland , the Galápagos island . Also known as San Cristóbal tortoises , they wereset promiscuous to hunt freewithin the Galápagos National Park , which sits on the northeastern side of San Cristóbal island .
There were once 15 species ofgiant tortoiseendemic to the Galápagos Islands , but when the region was colonized in the late 1800s the whalers and pirates contribute with them a mold of invasive pests that outcompeted the tortoise for nutrient and ate their hatchling . Their numbers plummet and several species were lost . Charles Darwin himself wrote about the harvesting of a species of tortoise found only on Floreana Island ( Chelonoidis elephantopus ) , which was wiped out in 1850 , 15 years after his first sojourn to the Galápagos . Others were thought to be lose but reemerged decade later ashybrids of two species .
With the musical accompaniment of conservationist , there is now an figure population of 6,700giant tortoisesroaming free on the Galápagos . The comparatively new-sprung bunch — Lonesome Georgelived to be 100 — are between six and eight years old and press just 5 kilograms ( 11 pounds ) with hopes they ’ll one day turn to a hefty 250 kilograms ( 550 pound ) as adults .
“ Rearing youthful tortoise in enslavement to roughly 5 year of age prior to unloose them into the wilderness is a full of life prick in rebuild universe routine cursorily , ” write theGalápagos Conservancyon their website . “ Tortoise mortality in the wild is highest over the first couple of years , often due to lack of intellectual nourishment or water as well as tortoise hatchling being easy prey for both endemical and trespassing predators . Once a tortoise reaches five year old , it is more likely to survive to due date . "
Captive rearing of tortoise has been used in Galpágos since the mid-1960s to help oneself restore population of nine of the 11 surviving species , reach it one of the most successful conservation programs throughout the Galápagos .
On the theme of positivist tortoise news , one ofC. chatamensiscousins , Chelonoidis hoodensis , was deliver from the verge of extinction by one tortoises ’ exemplary efforts . Diego the tortoise , hailed by many as the the Nazarene of his specie , was return to his home in the Galápagos island last class intimately 80 years after being taken from it . As part of a conservation program , he sired hundreds of tortoises , helping to bring the population up from a mere handful of reptiles to around 2,000 over the past few decennium . Top effort , Diego .
