by Vivienne Mackie

Created on: October 22, 2008

"A Success Story, andLast of the Line" or "Tortoise Recovery, andLonesome George." These were common headlines until recently, to be replaced by "Fabled Bachelor May Finally Be a Father."

But, first let's focus on why the discussion about Galapagos Giant Tortoises is so important.

Galapago' in Spanish means saddle', so the islands have taken their name from these creatures, as the Spanish thought their shells resembled saddles. The Galapagos Islands are home to a wonderful variety of unique animals, birds, and plants, all of which are special in their own way. We marvel at the strangeness of the creatures on these desolate volcanic islands, 1,000km off the coast of Ecuador, much as Charles Darwin did nearly two centuries ago. But, I'd like to focus on the tortoises-these creatures that have captured people's imaginations, the oldest and largest turtles in the world, living up to 150-200 years and weighing up to around 600 pounds.

The Galapagos Giant Tortoises, these huge lumbering creatures that move with ponderous grace, are a visible sign of a species brought back from the brink of extinction, an example of conservation success. It seems most visitors like the tortoises too. In the shops are many curios with a tortoise motif, as well as of those amazing birds, the blue-footed boobies (of course, T-shirts, bags and hats have the inevitable play on words!).

These gentle giant creatures, whose arrival on the islands is still a mystery, once numbered about 250,000. Before the arrival of humans the tortoises had no predators but, starting in the 17th century, pirates and whalers discovered these islands and used them as a safe haven. They introduced foreign animals and plants but, worse, they began the process of decimating the tortoises. We read horrific stories of thousands of tortoises being loaded onto ships and stored alive, upside down on their backs, as they could survive a long time and would be a source of fresh food for the ships' crews.

By 1980 tortoise numbers were down to about 15,000. Numbers decreased with competition from introduced species, such as goats, rats and cats, which threaten their natural habitat and eat the eggs. In the 1960s, Galapagos National Park, and the Darwin Research Station on Santa Cruz Island, began programs of protection, conservation and breeding of giant tortoises, programs that have begun to see success, some species saved from extinction.

The exception was Lonesome George.

Lonesome George is a symbol of the extinction that

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