Monday, June 25, 2012

Pinta Island Tortoise now extinct

Updated July 3, 2012

Turtle Tidbit #7 reports the June 24, 2012, death of Lonesome George, the last of the Pinta Island tortoises (Chelonoidis abingdoni) that lived in the Galagapos Islands of Equador. Though it is tragic to see a species become extinct, George's death was not in vain. His situation - being the last of his kind - simulated "an extraordinary effort by the government of Ecuador to restore not only tortoise populations throughout the archipelago but also to improve the status of other endangered and threatened species," says Galapagos National Park Public Relations.