Lonesome George

Meet Lonesome George, the Face of Extinction

Before a species goes extinct, there must be one last survivor. Often that final individual slips away unknown, but for the Pinta Island tortoise from Ecuador’s Galapagos Islands, that survivor was this male, known as Lonesome George. When he died of natural causes on June 24, 2012, his species, Chelonoidis abingdoni, vanished.

Lonesome George was the last known Pinta Island tortoise.
© Allison Llerena/Charles Darwin Foundation

All About Lonesome George

Species: Last documented member of Chelonoidis abingdoni, native to Pinta Island

Age: Thought to be more than 100 years old

Diet: Cactus, shrubs, grasses, and broad-leaved plants

Turtle vs. tortoise? Tortoises are turtles that live exclusively on land.

Did you know? Lonesome George—the lone tortoise of his species for at least 40 years—was named after a famous 1950s American TV comedian, George Gobel, who called himself “Lonesome George.”

Notable traits: An extremely long neck and a “saddle-backed” shell that rises slightly in front, like a saddle

Weight: About 165 lbs (75 kg); males of various species of Galapagos tortoises can exceed 660 lbs (300 kg) and are the largest living tortoises

A New Home

In 1971, a Hungarian scientist spotted Lonesome George on Pinta Island. The discovery surprised researchers who thought Pinta Island tortoises were already extinct. A year later, George was taken to the Tortoise Breeding and Rearing Center on Santa Cruz Island, where he lived for the next 40 years. 

Until his death in 2012, Lonesome George lived at the Tortoise Breeding and Rearing Center on Santa Cruz Island. 
© Z. Grinspan 

Saving Lonesome George

Staff at the Galapagos National Park and Charles Darwin Research Station tried repeatedly to mate Lonesome George with females from closely related species. Those efforts failed, but a new strategy to revive the species is underway. The discovery of hybrid tortoises partially descended from Pinta Island tortoises on Isabela Island, where whalers or pirates likely moved them long ago, provides the opportunity for establishing a breeding colony whose young will initiate the recovery of a reproductive population on Pinta.