Giant Tortoises   ׀   Turtles   ׀   Iguanas   ׀   Caimans

 

Giant Tortoise     or Galapagos Tortoise, Geochelone elephantopus, belong to the family of Testinudiae of the Chelonia order and are the largest species of this reptile order. These terrestrial giants weighing up to 300kg are endemic to the Galapagos islands, which were popularly named after them. The only other place in the world where Giant Tortoises are found is on Aldabra, an island in the Seychelles. The species there are named scientifically Geochelone gigantea.   It is a scientific mystery which continental specie is the ancestor of them. There is a terrestrial turtle found in the Amazon called Motelo which is similar to it (although much smaller) but it does not exist on the Pacific coast, where only aquatic and marine turtles are found. But anyway, whichever species arrived on the isles, they encountered no competing animals and predators (as the islands were devoid of mammals at that time) and could therefore transform themselves over time into those giants. They spread then on all larger islands and radiated into 15 races with marked differences of their shells.   Giant Tortoises are long-living animals with a life span of well over a hundred years. The largest of those land-dwelling tortoises can weigh up to 300 kg with males being much larger than females. They feed mostly on vegetation and fruits, fallen to the ground. Sexual maturity is reached at around 25 years of age and their mating season are the wet months from January to June. In the dry months then, the females lay their 10 to 20 tennis ball-sized eggs in places covered with sand or dirt. This process of excavating the holes, laying the eggs and covering them again, takes at least a few hours of hard work. After 4 to 8 months the young hatch and try to survive the first perilous years of their long life.   If feeling threatened the Giant Tortoise goes into this defensive stance with the head tucked in. Tortoises and turtles do not possess teeth but have a strong jaw.   When the archipelago was discovered in 1535, the islands were heavily populated by those giants with estimates of up to 300 000 individuals. They were so numerous and conspicuous that the islands were popularly named after them. But as it always happens with the arrival of man, other animal species start to suffer. First pirates and buccaneers, which used the archipelago as safe haven and to re-supply themselves, took those tortoises as they were easy to catch and once on the ship they could go a long time without taking food and were therefore an important fresh food source for the sailors. Later settlers took advantage of these slow-moving animals to enrich their meager diet with their rich meat and valuable oil. Presently the estimate is of some 20 000 individuals still left, some 7% of the original population. Their main threat to their survival nowadays are introduced domestic animals, which escaped and  became wild again. Feral goats compete for food, striping entire areas of vegetation. Wild pigs eat their eggs and rats devour the recently hatched tortoises. Programs for their eradications were implemented but without much success. Increasing tourism and further colonization is not much help either in the battle of their survival.   The male which weighs considerably more mounts the female from behind for mating purposes which may take more than a hour to be consumed. One tell tale sign to tell a female apart from a juvenile is of the appearance of its shell. If it looks scratched and worn then it is female.   There once existed 15 subspecies of Giant Tortoise on the islands but 4 of them are extinct now and from the 11 remaining ones, 8 are endangered, with one of the sub-species virtually extinct too as only one male is known to be still alive, the now famous Lonely George from the Pinta island. Efforts to find him a mate were up to now unsuccessful and it seems George indeed will live lonely till his days are counted. On Santa Cruz island exists one tortoise breeding facility, the Charles Darwin Station, which tries to keep the endangered species alive. One sub-specie on Española island, which was on the brink of extinction in the 60's, was brought back successfully. Another breeding facility was recently opened on Isabela island near Puerto Villamil and several tortoise reserves established on the main islands to make sure of the survival of those unique animals.     A new tortoise breeding facility was established on Isabela Island, near Puerto Villamil. After the first critical years are passed in the station, the tortoises then are released into the wild.