Lonesome George

Lonesome George is the name given to the last known tortoise of the subspecies Geochelone will nigra abingdoni , one of the 11 subspecies native of tortoise of the Galápagos Islands.

George was found in the island of Pinta in 1971 by hunters of goat and was probably named according to the character played by the American actor George Gobel.

Transferred to the Research station from Charles Darwin, the researchers tried to make it reproduce with one of the ten other subspecies of giant tortoises of the archipelago, in the hope which its genotype is preserved in the resulting offspring. Unfortunately, these attempts were not crowned success until now.

The prolonged effort to remove the island from George of the goats (introduced by the man and persons in charge of the destruction of its habitat) is now finished. The vegetation of the island starts to become again what it was, thus supporting the reintroduction of tortoises.

In May 2007, the analysis of microsatellites genomic suggested that other individuals of Geochelone will nigra abingdoni can always exist. The researchers identified a tortoise of the island of Galapagos close to Isabela which with half of its genes in common with the subspecies of George. This animal must be a first hybrid of generation between the subspecies of the islands Isabela and Pinta. It is possible that a pure Pinta tortoise lives among the 2000 tortoises on Isabela.

George is approximately 80 years old and is in good health (one considers their hope average from 150 to 200 years).

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