Exploring Nature: Lonesome G

I have been most fortunate when it comes to seeing interesting and exciting sights in the wonderful world of nature.

On the Amazon River, I beheld pink dolphins. In Iceland, I witnessed spouting geysers and small horses. Africa amazed me with swimming hippos and sharptoothed crocodiles.

But one of my all-time favorite creatures was a tortoise found in the Galapagos Islands off of Ecuador.

I visited those islands on a cruise ship and spent time at Galapagos National Park headquarters on Santa Cruz Island. The star attraction at the park was a giant tortoise named Lonesome George. He got that name because he was the last survivor of his particular species, Chelonoidis abingdonii.

On the day I saw him, he was nibbling on a leaf of lettuce and looked quite content. George was a big fellow, weighing over 400 pounds and he was in a large enclosure, having been hauled in from Pinta Island in 1971.

I was told several female tortoises had been brought in, hopefully to mate with George. But he ignored them all — earning the moniker “Lonesome” and remaining a confirmed bachelor. In 2012, he died.

His remains are still on exhibit, but it is sad that there was never a single offspring to carry on his lineage.

However, there is currently a female tortoise at the park and she is also the last of her species. She is Fernanda, last of the Chelonoidis phantasticus species. She was discovered in 2019 and relocated to the park headquarters.

Authorities have looked high and low to find a mate of her particular species, but to no avail. Like Lonesome George, she appears to be one of a kind.

They are still looking, but time is ticking away for Fernanda.

I’m sure she is lonesome, too.

Tortoises have more rounded and domed shells where turtles have thinner, more waterdynamic shells Photo from Metro Creative