Galapagos giant tortoise  (Geochelone spp.)

When mariners first began to arrive in the Galapagos Islands in the 1600s they captured giant tortoises and stored them live on ships as a source of meat (10). The trend continued and throughout the 19th Century whaling ships took a large number of tortoises for food, whilst further numbers were killed for turtle oil (10). Today the greatest threat to the survival of the Galapagos' giants comes from introduced species; feral dogs, cats and rats depredate juvenile tortoises before their carapace has fully developed and goats and cattle compete with tortoises for vegetation (9). The population of giant tortoises originally numbered in the 100,000s (8), but following centuries of persecution it is estimated that a mere fraction of this population remains; three species have become extinct and there is only one sole survivor of the Abingdon Island tortoise (G. abingdoni) known as 'Lonesome George' (9).

These tortoises are fully protected within the Galapagos National Park, which was established by Ecuador in 1959 (discover). International trade is also prohibited by the listing on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) (6). The Charles Darwin Foundation and the Galapagos National Park Service have been running a highly successful tortoise-restoration programme since the 1970s, by raising hatchlings from eggs until they are robust enough to be released into the wild without falling victim to predation (8). One of their major achievements has been to increase the population of the Critically Endangered Hood Island tortoise (G. hoodensis), which numbered just 13 individuals in the 1970s but now boasts over 1,000 members in the wild (4) (8). It is hoped that these concerted conservation efforts will help to secure the Galapagos' giant namesake for future generations.