The dynasty of the Galapagos giant tortoises likely began around 4 million years ago when a common ancestor made the long journey from the South American mainland to the most south easterly (and oldest) of the Islands, probably on a raft of vegetation. Over time, the currents swirling around the Archipelago would have distributed the growing tortoise populations between the Islands and eventually 15 known sub species came to rise. Historically, there is estimated to have been a total population of about 200,000 Galapagos giant tortoises - there are around 15,000 today. Three of the sub species are extinct and the Pinta tortoise was thought to have just one individual left - Lonesome George.

The isolation of the Archipelago and the lack of natural predators allowed the tortoises to evolve into the giants they are today. In the 18th and 19th centuries, buccaneers and whalers often stopped off at Galapagos. They took massive numbers of tortoises as they could survive on their ships for months without food and water and were apparently also delicious. In addition to this, the introduction of non-native domestic species such as goats, cats, dogs, pigs and rats that came with the humans have proved to be disastrous for the tortoises, preying on their eggs and young and also, in the case of goats, competing with them for food.

For more information on Galapagos giant tortoises in general click here.

So, the case of Pinta. The island of Pinta is 60 square kilometres and in the north of the Archipelago. Goats were introduced to the island in the 1950s and, as the island is very small, it didn’t take them long to chomp through most of the vegetation. The native tortoise population was thought to be long extinct with the last sighting in 1906 by the California Academy of Science (who promptly took the tortoises to preserve in a museum).