Floreana Island, Ecuador
AP
—
Nearly 150 years after the last giant tortoise was removed from Floreana Island in Ecuador’s Galapagos Islands, the species made a comeback on Friday, releasing dozens of juvenile hybrids to begin the restoration of the island’s devastated ecosystem.
The 158 newcomers, ages 8 to 13, set out to explore a habitat destined to be reshaped in the coming years. Their release was perfectly timed with the arrival of the season’s first winter rains.
“They are large enough to be released and can protect themselves from foreign animals such as rats and cats,” said Freddy Villalba, director of the Galapagos National Park Breeding Center on Santa Cruz Island, noting that the best specimens with the strongest pedigrees were selected specifically for the Floreana species.
These released juvenile specimens will be introduced in stages, out of a total of 700 individuals planned for Floreana Island. Galapagos National Park has inherited 40% to 80% of the genetic makeup of Niger, a species that went extinct 150 years ago, said Cristian Seville, the park’s ecosystem director.
The lineage of these hybrids can be traced back to the Wolf Volcano on Isabela Island, but the discovery still baffles scientists today. Sevilla said the breeding program aims to gradually restore the extinct Floreana species to its former purity by selecting adults with the strongest genetic makeup.
Two centuries ago, Floreana Island was home to around 20,000 giant tortoises. However, whaling, devastating fires, and relentless human exploitation eventually led to its complete extinction on the island.
“Genetically speaking, it is extremely important to reintroduce a species to the island that has significant genetic components of the original species,” biologist Washington Tapia told The Associated Press.
Tapia, a researcher and director of Biodiversa Consultores, a company specializing in the Galapagos Islands, emphasized that this process is about more than just numbers. It is about restoring the lost lineage.
Floreana Island is a volcanic landmass approximately 173 square kilometers (67 square miles) located at the southernmost tip of the Galapagos Islands. Located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, approximately 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) from the mainland coast, the island remains a remote and important ecological site.
Once reintroduced to Floreana, the turtles will share their territory with a diverse population of nearly 200 individuals, along with flamingos, iguanas, penguins, seagulls and hawks. But they also have to contend with invasive plant species such as blackberries and guavas, and animals such as rats, cats, pigs and donkeys. These invasive species introduced by human activities pose a potential threat to the island’s new inhabitants.
Florena resident Veronica Mora said the turtle’s release was a dream come true. “We are seeing the reality of a project that began several years ago,” she said, adding that the community feels immense pride in the giant tortoise’s return.
The United Nations designated the Galapagos Islands as a World Natural Heritage Site in 1978. This honor recognizes the island’s unique abundance of terrestrial and marine species found nowhere else on Earth.
