Pinta Island Tortoises Now Extinct
The Galapagos tortoise, often called the rarest animal on earth due to its count of one ( one), is now extinct after the death of its last living member, Lonesome George, at age 100. Conservationists have attempted to mate El Solitario Jorge (as locals call him) with female tortoises that were as genetically similar as possible, but all attempts have yielded unviable eggs. George has lived in Ecuador's Galapagos National Park since the early 1970's, and unless a turtle named Tony, living at the Prague zoo, is proven to be a member of George's species, was the last surviving member of this rare island tortoise. The passing was noted by the Internet and Wikipedia's entry on Pinta Island tortoises switched from Endangered to Extinct following George's death on Sunday. The Galapagos archipelago The Ecuadorian archipelago of Galapagos is famous for both the journey of the Beagle that carried Charles Darwin in his famous expedition and for its amaz...