For the first time in more than a century, baby tortoises were born on the Galápagos Islands. Conservationists have worked for decades to make this happen.
The Galápagos Tortoise
This tortoise is native to the Galápagos Islands, an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean, west of Ecuador. The islands may be most famous for Charles Darwin’s visit to them. His time there greatly influenced the development of his Theory of Natural Selection. (1, 2)
The Galápagos tortoise is the largest in the world. They can grow longer than five feet and weigh up to 550 pounds. Their lifespan averages over 100 years and the oldest tortoise on record lived 152 years. (1)
The Galápagos tortoises live a slow and simple life. They nap for up to 16 hours a day and love to bask in the sun. Their dietconsists of grass, leaves, and cactus. Because they have such a slow metabolism and hold large amounts of water internally, they can go a year without eating or drinking. (1)
Threats to Galápagos Tortoises
When Darwin visited the Galápagos Islands in 1831, there were 15 types of giant tortoises there. As of 2019, according to the IUCN Red List, two are considered Extinct, six are Critically Endangered, three are Endangered, and three are Vulnerable. The fifteenth species likely went extinct in the 1800s. A full specimen was never recovered, so scientists have not officially named or described it. (1, 2, 3)
From the 1600s to the 1800s, whalers, pirates, and merchants killed an estimated 100,000 Galápagos tortoises. They used them as a food source and later killed them for oil. (1, 2, 3).
Nonnative animal species introduced to the Galápagos by humans have been one of the greatest threats to giant tortoises. Rats, pigs, and dogskill tortoises and eat their eggs. And goats, cows, donkeys, and invasive plants have damaged the tortoises’ habitat. (1, 3)
Conservation Efforts
Organizations like the Galápagos Conservancy have been working to safeguard the giant tortoise for several decades. Their initiatives have included (3):
- conducting resources on tortoises and their habitats
- breeding and raising threatened tortoises
- repopulating islands where tortoises have gone extinct
- researching and managing interactions between humans and tortoises
One of the greatest triumphs of the conservation efforts has been the Galápagos Conservancy’s work to rid Pinzón Island of nonnative rats. Black rats were introduced to the island by ships. For more than a century, they dug up and ate tortoise eggs, stopping the tortoise population from growing. (4)
In 1986, conservationists began to move tortoise eggs from Pinzón to the Santa Cruz Tortoise Center. There, they could hatch and grow without the threat of the black rat. (4)
In 1970, 20 juvenile tortoises returned to Pinzón from the Tortoise Center. At this point, they were large enough to not be vulnerable to black rats. And in December 2012, conservationists completely eradicated black rats from Pinzón. (4)
Baby Tortoises Bring Hope
In December 2014, baby tortoise hatchlings were spotted on Pinzón for the first time since the late 1800s. On an excursionto seek out the baby tortoises, the Galápagos Conservancy found ten of them. Since baby tortoises tend to be difficult to find, they believed that there were many more. (4, 5)
By the end of 2017, 1,007 juvenile tortoises had returned to Pinzón. Their presence on the island brings hope for the future of the Galápagos tortoise. (4)
