THE GIANT TORTOISE OF GALAPAGOS

Galapagos is the group of islands located in the Pacific Ocean, North West of South

America, exactly 600 miles (1000 Km) off Ecuador's Pacific Coast. It is famous for its

natural beauty, variety of animal species and the most important Giant tortoises. The

giant Galapagos tortoise is largest living species of tortoise and 13th heaviest living

reptile. An adult tortoise can weigh up to 200 to 300 kg and can grow to the length of

6ft i.e. 2 meters. It has the life spans of over 100 - 200 years. Isn’t that amazing?

There are many fun facts about Galapagos tortoise:

Galapagos tortoise sleep around 16 hours a day and mostly eat same food as that of

goats and cattle. Tortoises lay eggs. Females lay their eggs in nest holes, which they

cover and leave, babies hatch in four to eight months and they are on their own from

the beginning. The gender is decided by weather, if hatching happens in hot seasons

produce boy Tortoises, while a cooler season produces more girl tortoises. A baby

tortoise need lots of protein in first few years and it grows till the age of 40 to 50.

Along with that Galapagos tortoise has importance in biology too. The famous naturalist

and scientist Charles Darwin did research on the species of tortoise during his stay at the

islands which helped him discover the most revolutionary “Theory of Evolution”. It is

found that each island in Galapagos has different species of tortoise depending on the

type of food available and the surroundings these reptiles have modified themselves

over the years.

There are two types of tortoise:

Saddle-back: Mostly found on the lower drier islands. They have raised shells,

long necks and limbs.

Dome-Shaped: Found on the upper parts of the islands, where plant growth is

dense and thick. They have round shaped shells, very short necks and limbs.

An adult tortoise can survive for months without food or water. The fact attracted

pirates, whale hunters, and merchant sailors. They quickly added Galapagos tortoises to

their diet because these giants can survive for a year without eating or drinking. This

meant the sailors could keep the reptiles onboard on long journeys without having to

care for them. Hunting is the main reason that is threatening tortoise for extinction, as

per the research made there are only 11 species of tortoise left as compare to 15 few

years back and number of tortoise has reduce to few thousands.

Taking this on serious node Ecuador Government took some steps for increasing the

population of tortoise. The establishment of Giant Tortoise Restoration Initiative (GTRE)

is the most important step taken recently with the motto saving giant tortoise from

extinction. Ecuador government has set strict rules against hunting of tortoise and

declared all the unsettled areas of island as Galapagos Nation Park. GNP works in

association with GTRE in order to increase the population of tortoise.

Although there is much work is needed to ensure the conservation of the tortoise that

are decimated over the centuries. The endangered Galapagos giant can be saved from

extinction.