The reason the tortoises have been driven to near extinction was the advent of much more efficient modern herbivores: the mammals. The tortoises were gradually out-competed and died out, but their reptilian characteristics did give them one big advantage: they were able to survive long periods at sea and then life in very harsh conditions, which would be virtually impossible for mammals. This meant that the odd tortoise that had accidentally fallen in and got drifted out to isolated islands like Galapagos actually survived, and thus created tiny pockets of relic populations. That allows us the huge honor of still witnessing animals such as these.
The importance to science and humanity of safeguarding these last remaining animals is clear, and this has actually been the focus of some of the most important conservation efforts made by the joint work of the Charles Darwin Research Station and the Galapagos National Park Service. Eggs obtained from endangered populations are hatched in the station, then raised until the young are approximately three to four years of age, when the critical survival stage has been passed. The young tortoises are subsequently repatriated to their island of origin. In the CDRS, they are working with the populations of four different islands: Pinzon, Santiago, Santa Cruz and Española.
In the photo, we have some of this year's hatchlings from Española, the greatest success story in Galapagos. Because thousands of tortoises were taken away for food during the pirate and whaling eras, and because of the introduction of goats to the island, the tortoise population was down to its last fourteen individuals. Two weeks ago, about thirty years later, an event was made of the repatriation of the thousandth Española tortoise to its island of origin!
