Lonesome George Dead: Last-Of-His-Kind Galapagos Tortoise Dies At 100

[Bacchus4.0]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/24/lonesome-george-dead_n_1622816.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular


QUITO, June 24 (Reuters) - Lonesome George, the last remaining tortoise of his kind and a conservation icon, died on Sunday of unknown causes, the Galapagos National Park said. He was thought to be about 100 years old.

Lonesome George was found in 1972 and had become a symbol of Ecuador's Galapagos Islands, which attracted some 180,000 visitors last year.

"This morning the park ranger in charge of looking after the tortoises found Lonesome George, his body was motionless," the head of the Galapagos National Park, Edwin Naula, told Reuters. "His life cycle came to an end."

George was believed to be around 100 years old and the last member of a species of giant tortoise from La Pinta, one of the smallest islands in the Galapagos, the Galapagos National Park said.



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I was fortunate enough to see George two years ago. He wasn't all that lonesome as he did share a pen with two females.