"158 reasons for hope": Galápagos giant tortoises released to the wild
After 180 years of absence, giant tortoises have returned to Floreana Island to build an ecosystem that can welcome back more endangered species, including mockingbirds, snakes, finches, and seabirds.
For 180 years, Floreana Island has been missing a keystone species. Giant tortoises were hunted to extinction by pirates and whalers — or so we thought. Now, 158 teenage giant tortoises are wandering wild on Floreana, where they are expected to eat their veggies, create mud baths, tear through brush, and poop seeds across the island.1
In doing so, they will engineer an ecosystem that conservationists hope will help welcome back another 12 species of rare birds and reptiles that once called the 67-square-mile island home. These include racer snakes, owls, hawks, finches, mockingbirds, and flycatchers (pictured below.)
“158 reasons for hope,” declared an email from Island Conservation CEO Penny Becker, whose group has been deeply involved in the island’s restoration.
Hundreds more teenage tortoises are on the way.
With rats and cats gone, an island stands a chance at life
The tortoises’ return follows a decades-long effort to captive-breed Floreana giant tortoises and prepare the island for their safe release. Rats eat eggs, cats eat hatchlings, and goats eat so much vegetation there’s little shade for a tortoise to regulate body temperature. Goats, pigs, and donkeys were removed by 2009, and rats, mice, and cats by late 2023.
Each juvenile tortoise is about the size of a basketball — a bulk that should ensure their survival in the wild. It will take another 15 years for them to reach full maturity.
Of the 13 main Galápagos Islands, many believe Floreana has suffered the most ecological devastation from human exploitation and invasive species. But as it turns out, the sailors who hunted Floreana giant tortoises for meat hundreds of years ago also may have inadvertently saved them. In 2000, biologists found tortoises 135 miles away on Wolf Volcano at Isabella Island with saddleback-shaped shells described by Charles Darwin as characteristic of Floreana tortoises. A saddleback shell allows for a longer neck and limbs and, therefore, the ability to eat vegetation higher up. Tortoise species with this characteristic are found on drier islands. After much genetic investigation, researchers believe the giant tortoises found near Wolf Volcano are descended from Floreana tortoises offloaded by sailors long ago, a common practice to perfect their ship’s weight before long journeys.
Ecuadorians first colonized Floreana about 200 years ago. It’s currently home to 160 residents. However, the only fresh water is a pond fed by rainwater, so population growth has been limited.
“For generations, Floreana existed without its giant tortoises,” said Verónica Mora, community representative from Floreana Island. “Their return shows what is possible when a community leads and many partners come together with a shared purpose. This moment marks an important step toward a future where conservation and community well-being go hand in hand — because our livelihoods, from tourism to agriculture and fishing, depend on the health of this island.”
The Galápagos Islands remain one of the most biodiverse regions in the world, home to land and marine iguanas, seabirds like blue-footed boobies and Galápagos penguins, 17 species of finch, the densest population of sharks in the world, and 2,900 marine species. The varied species and their adaptations to their unique island environments inspired Charles Darwin to formulate his theory of natural selection.
Agencies involved in Floreana’s restoration include:
Galapagos Conservancy, the lead agency on the tortoise releases.
Galápagos National Park Directorate
Biosecurity and Quarantine Agency for Galápagos
Fundación Jocotoco
Charles Darwin Foundation
Island Conservation
Fun facts:
Giant tortoises reintroduced to Española were found to have benefited albatross by clearing large areas needed for nesting.
On Aldabra Island in the Indian Ocean, researchers found that 80 percent of ebony seeds that pass through a giant tortoise germinate, compared to 3 percent that don’t.
On Round Island in Mauritius, seven years after giant tortoises were reintroduced, researchers documented that clusters of young Latanier Bleu palms were only found far from their parent trees where tortoises were present.
Giant tortoises take 20-30 years to reach maturity. Many live over a century, with Jonathan, a captive Seychelles giant tortoise still alive after 190 years. An Aldabra giant tortoise who died at an Indian zoo in 2006 was purported to have lived to 255 years old.
There are 13 distinct species of Galápagos giant tortoises.
There were once 250,000 giant tortoises living on the Galápagos Islands. That number plummeted to 3,000 in the 1970s. Now, there are 25,000 to 35,000.
Endangered reptiles and amphibians raised in conservation programs are often carried on the backs of rangers, scientists, or volunteers to return home. We’ve mentioned these epic hikes in stories about saving Yosemite’s native frog and Colorado’s boreal toad.
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About Earth Hope
Earth Hope is a solutions-based journalism project that highlights environmental success stories to inspire action. I’m Amanda Royal, a former newspaper reporter and current eco-news junkie. Read more about this project and what inspired it. I aggregate news under my “hopeful headlines,” conduct original reporting and interviews, and share occasional personal narratives. Visit earthhope.substack.com for more stories. To understand why I write about hope, please read “As I went down in the river to pray …”
Scientifically referred to as foraging, clearing, wallowing, and seed dispersal.
“158 reasons for hope,”
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Great to hear about another conservation success!
It just proves that we do know how to protect biodiversity, we just have to invest the time and resources to figure out what needs to be done and then do it.