Sunday, June 24, 2012

Goodbye, Lonesome George

A photograph of Lonesome George taken in 2006
Today there has been another animal extinction. Lonesome George, the last remaining member of the Pinta Island giant tortoise subspecies (Geochelone elephantopus abingdoni) was found dead in his enclosure this morning. He was estimated to be one hundred years old, still a young adult.

George in 2007
George's story has been rather a sad one. Pinta Island tortoises were believed to be lost to the world when a survey in the 1960's was done to see what could be done to protect the giant tortoises of the Galapagos Islands. Much to the surprise of scientists, a single tortoise was found on Pinta Island in 1971. They named him George and he was removed to a research station and much effort was put into finding him a mate to keep the subspecies alive. Despite a hefty reward, no female was ever found. Attempts to have him mate with other subspecies produced only infertile eggs.

Lonesome George has become a symbol of failing species in the years that he has lived as the last remaining member of his own species. There are many species that are in serious trouble and not far away from having a fate identical to that of George and the rest of the Pinta Island tortoises. All species play and important role in their environment and there's no way to know what impact their extinction will have until they are gone. Like Jenga, there is no way of telling how many blocks can be taken out before the entire system collapses. This is why every species is precious and vital to the welfare of ecosystems. We have had success stories in the past, and hopefully conservation will keep many species from suffering the same fate as Lonesome George.

George's cause of death has yet to be determined, and a necropsy will be performed. There are plans to have his body embalmed. The demise of his species can be attributed to hunting for food and the eating of eggs by introduced species such as rats and wild pigs.

Sources are the BBC, Huffington Post, The Independent, and Tortoise Trust. Images are from Wikimedia Commons under Creative Commons licenses: one, two.

8 comments:

  1. What a bummer. It breaks my heart a little more every time another species goes extinct...

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    1. Same with me.

      It's a shame that he didn't live longer. Tortoises usually have such amazingly long lives.

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  2. I was going to blog about his death this morning.

    They tried to hybridize him with related subspecies in captivity. The matings produce nonviable eggs.

    But there are hybrids of this subspecies running around, so at least some of them must have been viable in the past.

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    1. Do you know if they know how many hybrids are out there?

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  3. so as well the evolution dies with him...no next species that would link with its kind to be another form of species..so long amigo..will see you there at the end of the rainbow..

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    1. There are apparently some hybrids that have been found, but yes there's no hope for pure Pinta Island tortoises.

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  4. 100 years old, still a young adult. Incredible!

    What a loss.

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    1. It's amazing how long some animals can live. Tortoises definitely fit into that category.

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