Pinzon giant tortoise babies born in wild of Galapagos for 1st time in 100 years
Pinzon giant tortoise babies born in wild of Galapagos for 1st time in 100 years
The Associated Press, March 14, 2015
A giant tortoise crawls along the path in Galapaguera, a tortoise breeding centre, in Ecuador in this 2013 file photo provided by Google. (AP / Google)
QUITO, Ecuador -- For the first time in a century, babies of the endangered Pinzon giant tortoise have been born in the wild in the Galapagos islands, scientists said.
An expedition in 1970 found only 19 adult tortoises on the archipelago's Pinzon island, averaging 70 years old, so scientists removed them to start a captive breeding program on Santa Cruz island. The program produced juveniles that were transplanted back to the island, which is the only place the species is found.
Danny Rueda, who is in charge of conservation and restoration of ecosystems in the Galapagos, told The Associated Press that in December six infant Pinzons were found to have been born on the island.
He said there are now 650 juvenile and adult tortoises on Pinzon.
Rueda said the reintroduction of the tortoise was helped by the 2012 campaign to eradicate rats that infested Pinzon and other islands in the archipelago after being introduced long ago by passing ships. The rats prevented the reproduction by tortoises and other species.
"Finding the six baby tortoises tells us that the process of eradicating rats succeeded," he said.
"We have begun to see that the ecosystem has begun to restore itself" on Pinzon, Rueda added. "It is a process that takes a long time. But the first step is the birth of tortoises in their natural habitat, which a century ago did not happen."
The Galapagos, an Ecuadorean territory in the Pacific about 1,000 kilometers from the mainland, was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1978 because of its unique land and marine animals and vegetation. That flora and fauna helped inspire Charles Darwin's theory of evolution.
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I'll bet these have been around for a lot more than 6000 years.
Now, the next step is to eradicate the cat population that is going to start booming with the loss of the rats, their primary food source.
We had the same issue on Ascension Island. The Portuguese had brought the rats in the ship's holds. After 100 years, the island was over-run. The Brits brought in cats to kill the rats, they succeeded, and then the feral cat population got our of hand and they started killing/eating all the birds, some of which were on the T & E world listing - not any more, they're dead.
We used to send out "cat patrols" with .22's, to the feeding/nesting areas to eliminate the cats. But, they bred so damn fast and often, we had a losing battle. The Brits and U. S. joined with a med group and developed a "substance" that attracted and eliminated the cats - and no other animal.
Now, Ascension has a law - no pets - period. If you're caught, you're expelled, your pet is confiscated and eliminated.
Hope the Galapagos doesn't have to go that route.
Probably since the beginning of time Buzz.
Good to see that this is happening, and the turtle is making a bit of a comeback.
Also, good to see an article on the front back, that isnt' the mindless BS that being posted of late.
Cool!
True!
Yay, Buzz!!!
I'm glad to see that they're making a comeback, too!
But 1st, why would the loss of their primary food source mean the cat population would grow? I would think it would die out without food - they might even start to cannibalize each other.
Don't tell that to creationists they suffer from Reptile Dysfunction.
It's
Why do you think I made that comment?
They went from eating rats to eating the birds, of which Ascension is a huge aviary.
I have to stop commenting in the middle of the night. You SAID they ate the birds and even though I read that I asked the question. whew!!!
I think Australia is famous for bringing a creature to the island that had no natural predators there, so it multiplied enormously. Was it rabbits?
It was rabbits and cats Buzz. The same with New Zealand, most of the native bird live is gone.
Take a nap Buzz
Actually I nap after lunch. Everyone here does.