Lonesome George, the most famous turtle in the world, has died. The last Abingdon elephant tortoise died Who was a resident of the Galapagos Islands lonely George
Lonesome George is the last tortoise of one of the subspecies of giant reptiles found in the Galapagos Islands. He was kept in captivity for a long time, which probably caused his sudden death. Lonely George passed away on 06/24/2012. On the day of death, the animal was only 100 years old, which is very young for turtles of this species.
Who was Lonely George
There is an assumption that this individual was the last representative of the subspecies of the Abingdon elephant tortoises, which previously inhabited the islands of the Galapagos archipelago. He was considered a symbol of environmental protection. After death, the body was embalmed and placed as an exhibit in the stand, he looks proud, with his head held high. To some extent, this can be regarded as a mockery, because it was people who, for 100-300 years, which were meager by geological standards, brought this subspecies to complete extinction. Of course, if we talk about the practical side of things, then everything is done correctly. After all, now this is the only opportunity to see what these reptiles looked like.
The elephant tortoise Lonely George was the last hope of biologists for the resurrection of this subspecies, but the reptile never gave birth. This male was called "the most famous bachelor in the world." Unfortunately, he was not found a mate among females of related species.
How did the ancestors of the famous turtle live?
The Galapagos Islands were formed from a large volcano gradually, one after another. It was several million years ago. The lava islands detached from the raging mountain were displaced to the southeast at an average rate of 7 cm/year. This was enough to form an archipelago of 16 islands.
The harsh climate and poor soil have led to severe natural selection and the formation of endemic species of animals and plants. Among them are giant tortoises. The first to notice this was the famous scientist Charles Darwin, who visited these pieces of land. He found that the shells of giant tortoises taken from different islands of the archipelago differ in shape.
There is no drinking water, so turtles must eat a lot of grass to get it. This circumstance could cause the absence of predators, so they had no natural enemies.
In addition to turtles, other unique species live on the island - iguanas, endemic birds and reptiles.
Barbaric deeds of "reasonable man"
Once the islands were inhabited by a huge number of giant one and a half to two-meter turtles. The weight of these animals was several hundred kilograms. They prospered, as there was always plenty of food. The first settlers began to use the meat of reptiles (and even their cubs) for food. Pieces of the shell served as a frying pan. Since they had meat on them, it was very convenient. Soup was made from little turtles. Their meat was considered very tender. There was no other acceptable food on the islands.
In huge numbers, turtles were taken out on ships, where they were also used as provisions. Sailors called them "live canned food", as these animals survived for a long time without food and water.
However, the greatest damage to the islands was caused after the resettlement of goats and pigs there. They quickly multiplied and began to threaten many island species, putting them on the brink of extinction, because they quickly ate grass - the main food of the clumsy reptiles. The island of Pinto suffered the most, where there were no giant tortoises at all.
To save the unique species, since 1974 a program has been launched to restore turtles and other rare animals of the archipelago. By that time, about 30-40 thousand goats were already wandering around it. They all needed to be removed from there, and this required huge efforts. It wasn't until 2009 that all goats were removed from the Galapagos Islands.
As a result of these actions, the number of giant tortoises began to grow again, having increased from 3 thousand in the 70s of the 20th century to 20 thousand by now.
However, the subspecies, which included Lonely George (Abingdon elephant tortoise), could not be saved. Its representatives were destroyed 150 years ago. However, some scientists continue to fight for this species.
Is it possible to restore the Abingdon tortoises
In 2007, researchers found reptiles very genetically close to the famous George. It happened on Isabella Island. It is believed that one of their closest relatives could be the Abingdon elephant tortoise. In total, 17 reptiles with a similar genome were found. Scientists have conducted many experiments, but so far their efforts have not been successful.
The story of Lonely George is a vivid example of how carefully we need to treat what we have.
Lonely George
Lonely George, photo 2007
George was found by a Hungarian scientist on the island of Pinta (a small island in the north of the archipelago, also called Abingdon) in 1972. Named after American actor George Gobel (English) Russian . Theoretically, turtles of this species are able to maintain the ability to reproduce even at the age of 200 years. Since George's death, the Abingdon elephant tortoise subspecies is considered extinct.
For decades, zoologists have tried to get offspring from George, but to no avail. At one time, scientists believed that George was not capable of reproduction at all, but this turned out not to be the case. In May 2007, after a genetic analysis of 2,000 turtles, a female from Wolf volcano was discovered, genetically similar to George, being a hybrid and having a paternal relative of George, after which there was hope for continuation of the family. Fertilization occurred, but the embryos in the eggs were not viable.
George was often called the most famous bachelor in the world .
Lonesome George is the subject of Lonesome George: The Life and Love of the World's Most Famous Turtle by Henry Nichols. Lonesome George: The Life and Loves of the world "s most famous tortoise ) .
On June 24, 2012, the body of a unique reptile was found without signs of life by the caretaker of the reserve Fausto Llereno, who had been caring for the turtle for 40 years. Lonely George died at the age of about 100 without giving offspring. This means the extinction of the corresponding subspecies. . Once opened, the turtle will be embalmed and displayed in a local museum so that future generations will have a visual representation of the extinct reptile.
Literature
- Darevsky I. S., Orlov N. L. Rare and endangered animals. Amphibians and reptiles / ed. V. E. Sokolova. - M .: Higher. school, 1988. - S. 53. - 100,000 copies. - ISBN 5-06-001429-0
Notes
Sources
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010 .
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In the early morning of Sunday, June 24, perhaps the most famous tortoise in the world, a Galapagos named Lonely George, died. Together with George, a whole subspecies of giant reptiles disappeared from the planet, which once inhabited the Galapagos Islands in abundance, but were exterminated by people in just a hundred years.
background
The first of the many islands of the Galapagos archipelago was formed about 5-10 million years ago. Its "parent" was a volcano: the material that makes up the island is hardened lava. Following the first island, a second, third, and so on formed - now the group includes 16 large islands and many small formations. The archipelago is located in the region of the Galapagos Rift - a transverse fault in the earth's crust, which manifests itself as constant ejections of lava. This volcanically active zone is called the Nazca plateau, and it is slowly shifting to the southeast at a rate of about seven centimeters per year. Accordingly, older islands move away over time, giving way to younger ones.
Moving away from the place of their formation, the islands are slowly covered with vegetation, although rather sparse compared to the mainland regions located at the same latitude - that is, almost at the equator. But the relative poverty of the plant world is more than compensated by its uniqueness. There are practically no sources of fresh water on the islands, and the climate there is very cool, so the plants that ventured to gain a foothold in the Galapagos had to develop a fair amount of adaptations to harsh conditions.
Island animals also differ markedly from their relatives on the "mainland" - the vast majority of species living in the Galapagos are endemic, that is, unique to this particular place. By staying on the islands, the tetrapods and birds got a dreary landscape, harsh climate, and often a very poor choice of food, but saved themselves from the mainland's countless predators.
Story
George's ancestors appeared on one of the smallest islands of the Pinta archipelago a very long time ago. The giant tortoises - the length of the dorsal shield of their shell reaches one meter or more - had no natural enemies in the Galapagos, so they bred for their own pleasure and freely roamed the island, eating juicy grass. There were so many leisurely reptiles covered with thick bone plates that the islands were even named after them - the Spanish word "galapago" means one of the varieties of aquatic turtles.
While we were at the top of the island, we ate exclusively turtle meat. The fried breast part of the shell with the meat left on it is very good, and the cubs make an excellent soup. But in general, turtle meat, for my taste, is nothing special.
The island idyll remained unchanged for thousands of years, until one day, which was no different from the others, people appeared on the island. They quickly realized that turtles were not able to defend themselves against enemies, and since there was no other food for Pinta, they quickly mastered the preparation of various dishes from turtle meat. Sailors hunted not only for adult turtles, but also for cubs, from which a very tender soup was obtained.
A little later, people decided to colonize the Galapagos and, in order to make life on the uncomfortable islands more enjoyable, they brought their pets with them. This turned out to be a fatal decision: if the pigs simply trampled the grass, then the goats ate it at such a speed that entire turtle families died of starvation. There were also dogs that did not dare to attack turtles, but they took great pleasure in catching unsuspecting iguanas. Gradually, giant tortoises on the island of Pinta met less and less until they disappeared altogether.
A few more decades passed, and when it seemed that the island had finally died, the situation suddenly changed for the better. Similar processes took place on the neighboring islands of Pinto, and although the consequences there were not so catastrophic due to their larger size, it became clear to environmentalists that the Galapagos Islands needed to be saved, and urgently. In order to prevent the transformation of a unique nature reserve into a lifeless desert, in 1974 a large-scale program was launched on the archipelago to restore the turtle population. Scientists have also tried to save other endemic animals.
To stop the destruction of the islands, it was necessary, first of all, to get rid of goats and other introduced species. In 1959, the fishermen brought with them only three herbivores: a male and two females. By 1973, more than 30 thousand individuals lived on the island. The extermination of the goats that have bred on the archipelago required a lot of efforts from environmentalists: they finally managed to cope with this task only in 2009. More than 80,000 animals and over six million dollars were spent during the impact phase.
In parallel, the researchers, as best they could, restored the number of turtles on the islands. As a result of their efforts, the number of giant reptiles has increased from 3,000 in 1974 to 20,000 today.
The present
But for the subspecies Chelonoidis nigra abingdoni, to which Lonely George belonged, the story, alas, was over forever. By the time the Galapagos Islands restoration program began, it was believed that C. n. abingdoni extinct, but in 1972 (according to other sources, in 1971), the Hungarian biologist Josef Vazvolgyi noticed a characteristic silhouette on Pinta Island. The miraculously preserved turtle was placed in a specially equipped enclosure and began to search for suitable partners for George.
Since other known representatives of the subspecies C. n. abingdoni left, scientists selected girlfriends for George from the closest groups. As a result, we settled on two females caught on the neighboring island of Isabella. For the first 15 years of living together, George did not show any interest in the ladies, but in 2008 one of the turtles laid eggs. Scientists immediately placed them in an incubator, but, despite all the thoroughness of nursing, not a single cub hatched. A year later, one of George's companions laid eggs again, and again to no avail.
The lonely male did not try to leave offspring anymore - perhaps the difference between the two subspecies, which was insignificant for people, seemed too big for him. In 2011, two females from the island of Hispaniola, belonging to the subspecies C. n. hoodensis- a closer analysis showed that genetically they are closer to George than the turtles from Isabella. New girlfriends remained with the rescued until his death, but George did not want to mate with any of them.
The corpse of the last representative of the once numerous subspecies C. n. abingdoni discovered in the early morning of June 24 by the keeper of the enclosure, who had been caring for the turtle for more than 40 years. Judging by the posture, George was heading for a water hole. The exact cause of the death of the animal is still unknown - in the near future, experts intend to conduct an autopsy and understand what happened to him. By the standards of giant tortoises, which are believed to live for two hundred years, George was still very young - he was hardly over a hundred.
Future
Despite all the tragedy of what happened, some researchers believe that the subspecies C. n. abingdoni can still be restored. According to some reports, the giant tortoise living in the Prague Zoo is the same species as George. Later, DNA analysis disproved these assumptions, but in 2007, scientists found animals on Isabella Island whose genes contained about half of George's genes. In other words, the found turtles were most likely born from a union C. n. abingdoni with a representative of some other subspecies. And it cannot be ruled out that the parent of unusual animals has not yet died, which means that it is possible to find him.
12.07.2012 - 15:55
In the summer of 2012, one of the subspecies of turtles - the Abingdon elephant tortoise - moved from the Red Book to the "black" list - a list of animals that have disappeared forever from our planet. Lonesome George, this turtle was named after the American actor George Gobel, of course, not because of the external resemblance - the actor was just an inveterate bachelor, and the turtle, to the greatest grief of zoologists, had the same tendency ...
hardened bachelor
The last representative of the now extinct subspecies was Lonesome George - an 88-kilogram tortoise, 1 m 80 cm long, discovered by Hungarian naturalists on the small island of Pinta (north of the Galapagos archipelago) in 1972. More than a hundred years earlier, almost all Abingdon tortoises were exterminated by whalers and fishermen - this specimen survived miraculously.
No matter how they tried to pick up a mate for Lonesome George from Pinta Island, nothing worked. And on June 24, 2012, he died at the age of either 70 or 170 years old (the researchers could not determine the exact figure) without leaving any offspring.
George became a celebrity long before his death. Almost immediately after the researchers discovered him, he was transported to the Galapagos Islands National Park, looked after, fed and protected in every possible way. Tens of thousands of tourists came to see the unique turtle, including such famous people as Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt and Prince Charles. Writer Henry Nichols even wrote a book about her: Lonesome George: The Life and Love of the World's Most Famous Turtle.
gourmet cynicism
It is possible that already now the only places where animals can somehow survive will be carefully protected nature reserves and national parks. In any other place, wild representatives of the fauna are threatened with death. This is especially true of completely defenseless turtles. The fact is that the meat of these reptiles is highly valued by gourmets, and in many countries is considered a delicacy.
The most terrible thing in the extermination of turtles, and other animals, is that a person, indulging his whims, cannot do without cruelty. One traveler describes with disgust a picture he saw in one of the southern markets: “The buyers probably want to get the meat as fresh as possible, or the sellers do not want to take the trouble to kill the animal, so they simply separate the chest shell from a live turtle and cut it out, if desired. the buyer, the specified piece of meat from the body of the victim. The European is horrified to see how the tormented animal rolls its eyes, slowly opens and closes its mouth, and how the heart beats, which is usually the last to demand. In theory, after such a spectacle, even a very tasty piece of turtle meat will not go down the throat, but this does not bother local gourmets.
As already mentioned, fishermen made a special "contribution" to the extermination of turtles. The sailors cynically called them "live canned food" because the reptiles, being caught, could live for months in the hold of the ship without water and food, waiting for the moment when they were cooked and served on the table. Back in the 16th century, there were about a quarter of a million individuals of the Galapagos tortoises. By 1970, there were no more than three thousand of them left. Judging by the records of ship logs, only 79 whaling ships in 36 years (in the middle of the 19th century) took out more than 10 thousand reptiles from the archipelago.
There is evidence that at the beginning of the 18th century, on one of the islands, about 40,000 individuals of one of the species of turtles that lived there were allowed ... to feed pigs.
Hunting for offspring
Not only land turtles, but also sea turtles are under the threat of extinction. Submitting to the whims of gourmets, the “getters” hunt both the reptiles themselves and their unborn offspring.
One sea turtle lays approximately 100 eggs per year. For their clutches, females dig small holes in the sand of once deserted beaches. But the local population is well aware of the places of permanent clutches, and every season a ruthless hunt begins, for turtles and their eggs. The market for mining is unusually gluttonous.
Mexicans, for example, believe that turtle eggs increase male potency and, despite the fact that the authorities have been fighting poachers for many years, all street vendors in Mexico City know where you can get a treat for a real macho. In fact, uncontrolled hunting for turtle offspring, in the end, led to the fact that only one turtle out of four thousand has a chance to reach puberty.
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