Galápagos Giant Tortoise Rewilding
Galápagos Conservancy and the Galápagos National Park Directorate rear giant tortoises in breeding centres and return them to their home islands (Galápagos Conservancy, nonprofit).
Image: NASA (iss068e025397, La Cumbre volcano, Fernandina Island, Galápagos, Nov. 28, 2022).
Last reviewed: 3 sources cited
Galápagos tortoises were nearly gone; a breeding programme has sent thousands home.
Over the last 60 years, more than 9,000 giant tortoises have been reared in captivity and released to the wild in the Galápagos (Galápagos Conservancy).
Explain Like I'm 10
- Giant tortoises once covered the Galápagos Islands, but people and animals they brought nearly wiped them out.
- Park rangers and scientists raise baby tortoises in safe centres until they are big enough to survive.
- Then they carry them back to the islands where they belong.
The Five W's of Galápagos tortoises
Who
Galápagos Conservancy, a nonprofit, with the Galápagos National Park Directorate.
What
Rearing endangered giant tortoises in breeding centres and releasing them on their home islands.
When
The programme launched in 1965 and has run for about 60 years.
Why
Today's tortoise populations are only about 10% of their historical numbers and live in only 35% of their available habitat (Galápagos Conservancy).
Connected Solutions
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Impact Statement
Nonprofit solution · active
Española tortoises went from 15 survivors in the 1960s to more than 2,300 living and breeding on the island (Galápagos Conservancy).
Source: Galápagos Conservancy, Rewilding Giant Tortoises
For Further Information: Galápagos Conservancy, Rewilding Giant Tortoises
In June 2020 the 15 original Española adults were released back on their island, ending one of the most successful breeding programmes in the world (Galápagos Conservancy).
How This Saves People & the Planet
For People
As "A community of living things and the place they live, like a reef or a forest, all depending on each other. Glossary engineers," the tortoises have restorative effects on Galápagos land and The variety of all living things in a place: plants, animals, fungi and tiny microbes. Glossary (Galápagos Conservancy).
Source: Galápagos Conservancy, Rewilding Giant Tortoises
For Nature
Pinzón Island got tortoise hatchlings again after black rats were eradicated in 2012, for the first time in over 100 years (Galápagos Conservancy).
Support the Tortoises
Help rewild the Galápagos giant tortoises.
DonateHelp This Work
Links go straight to the organization. Saving Planets doesn't receive any of the money.