Giant Tortoises In Galapagos Islands: Ecuador Releases 201 Large Turtles To Repopulate Island
Giant Tortoises In Galapagos Islands: Ecuador Releases 201 Large Turtles To Repopulate Island
By Tim Marcin @TimMarcin t.marcin@ibtimes.com on June 29 2015 11:36 AM EDT
A Galapagos giant tortoise is pictured before its annual weighing at Riga Zoo July 1, 2008.
The Galapagos Islands recently saw the addition of 201 tortoises. Reuters
Ecuador has released hundreds of giant tortoises on Sante Fe Island in the Galapagos archipelago in an effort to repopulate the island with the oversized turtles after a similar tortoise went extinct more than 150 years ago, reported Agence France-Presse. The tortoises, released on Saturday, were raised in captivity and are between 4 and 10 years old.
The giant tortoises of Santa Fe died out after humans adversely affected the island's ecosystem beginning in the 18th century when pirates and buccaneers decimated the population.
"We released in Santa Fe 201 tortoises from the Chelonoidis hoodensis subspecies, which are from Española Island, and which have morphological and genetic similarities to the extinct subspecies on the Santa Fe island," rangers from Galapagos National Park said.
The park service hailed the repopulation as a "conservation milestone" and called the release a "new methodology for ecological restoration of the archipelago." The Galapagos archipelago is located about 620 miles off the Ecuadoran coast, and Santa Fe -- which has an area of about 9.5 square miles -- lies at the center of it.
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