Galapagos' Giant Tortoise

Christian Bermeo


Galapagos' giant tortoise has been extinct for over 100 years. A giant tortoise was found on the island of Fernandina, Ecuador. The tortoise was rushed quickly to a breeding center in Santa Cruz Island, Ecuador. The female tortoise was found by a group of biologists. She was around 112 years old.

A giant tortoise average size is five-feet long with a nine-inch neck. The average weight of these tortoises can be around 550 pounds, depending on its gender. The tortoise spends 16 hours resting and the remaining hours eating or drinking. They rest for a long period because they can last one year without food or water. Mating season usually tends to be from January to May. The female tortoise would move to a nesting area to lay her eggs. A female can lay 2 through 16 tennis size eggs. The one female they recently found had stored sperm for many years. The reason why she did not give birth is that she was lost the islands and there was no male guardian for their family.

Charles Darwin believed tortoises' neck is proof of evolution. Some tortoise has longer necks than others, and the reason why is because food resources can be mostly found from hanging tree branches. Most grass on the island is damaged because the island has active volcanos.

Santa Cruz breeding center produced 1,000 giant tortoises in three months. Species are considered endangered when they have 2,500 or fewer individuals. The tortoises are working their way out of being endangered, and I believe they will achieve their goal in a year.