Diego (tortoise)
Diego is a giant tortoise from Hood Island (= Española Island). He was used to restock a Galapagos island with more giant tortoises.
.jpg) Diego in 2009 | |
| Species | Hood Island tortoise (Chelonoidis hoodensis) |
|---|---|
| Sex | Male |
| Hatched | 1910s Española Island, Ecuador |
| Nation from | Galápagos |
| Known for | being part of project to breed tortoises |
| Offspring | Around 900 |
| Named after | San Diego Zoo |
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It is likely he was hatched on Hood in the Galápagos before 1920.[1][2] He was captured as a young adult and sent to the United States to be shown at zoos.[1][2] By the late 1940s he was at San Diego Zoo in California. A captive breeding effort was set up in 1976 for the Hood Island tortoises.
At the time only 15 were known to be alive.[1][2] Diego was sent to Santa Cruz Island to join the project.[1][2] Diego had more than 900 offspring who were released on Española.[1][2] These helped increase the number in the wild to more than 2,000. The breeding project ended in January 2020.[1] Diego was then released into the wild in June 2020.[3]
References
change- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Machemer, Theresa (14 January 2020). "Diego, the 100-Year-Old Tortoise Who Fathered 900 Babies, Returns to the Wild". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 "Amorous giant tortoise is saving his species from extinction". The Columbian. 17 January 2020. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
- ↑ "Tortoise with species-saving sex drive retires". BBC News. 16 June 2020. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
Other websites
change
Media related to Diego at Wikimedia Commons
