'Very sexually active' tortoise saves species from extinction
The 100-year-old reptile has fathered nearly half the giant tortoises on the Galapagos Islands
A giant male tortoise with an extremely high sex drive has helped bring his species back from the brink of extinction on the Galapagos Islands.
The randy reptile, a 100-year-old Chelonoidis hoodensis tortoise called Diego, has fathered 800 offspring – nearly 40 per cent of the growing tortoise population during his lifetime.
"He's a very sexually active male," said Washington Tapia, a tortoise preservation specialist at Galapagos National Park. "He's contributed enormously to repopulating the island."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
However, he added: "I wouldn't say [the species] is in perfect health, because historical records show there probably used to be more than 5,000 tortoises on the island." But he concedes that the population is in "pretty good shape - and growing, which is the most important".
Of the 15 species of giant tortoise from the Galapagos, three are now extinct – "victims of 18th-century pirates who plundered the islands' fragile ecosystem", AFP reports.
Diego has "a mysterious, globe-trotting background to go with his reputation as a Casanova," it adds. The tortoise was found in a San Diego zoo and was brought back to the islands in 1976 to take part in a captive breeding programme.
"We don't know exactly how or when he arrived in the United States. He must have been taken from Espanola [an island in the Galapagos] sometime between 1900 and 1959 by a scientific expedition," Tapia said.
The Sun newspaper speculates that Diego's stint at a California zoo "during the free-love 1960s" is the reason behind his "life as a Lothario".
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Today's political cartoons - April 17, 2024
Cartoons Wednesday's cartoons - political anxiety, jury sorting hat, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Arid Gulf states hit with year's worth of rain
Speed Read The historic flooding in Dubai is tied to climate change
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
USC under fire for canceling valedictorian speech
Speed Read Citing safety concerns, the university canceled a pro-Palestinian student's speech
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
How the EU undermines its climate goals with animal farming subsidies
Under the radar Bloc's agricultural policy incentivises carbon-intensive animal farming over growing crops, despite aims to be carbon-neutral
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Chimpanzees are dying of human diseases
Under the radar Great apes are vulnerable to human pathogens thanks to genetic similarity, increased contact and no immunity
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Can the world really wean itself off coal?
Today's Big Question 'Record' global consumption is set to fall soon but growing demand in China and India could increase tensions
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
The microplastics hurricanes blowing across North America
Under the Radar New research confirms global pervasiveness of harmful microplastic pollution
By The Week Staff Published
-
What can Cop28 really achieve?
Today's Big Question Climate summit in UAE proves controversial as UN warns world is falling short of global warming targets
By The Week UK Published
-
A23a: why world's biggest iceberg is on the move
The Explainer The mass of ice is four times the size of New York and 'essentially' an island
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Libya floods: death toll set to rise with 10,000 reported missing
More than 6,000 people reported dead, with hundreds of bodies still washing ashore
By Arion McNicoll Published
-
Thousands feared dead in catastrophic Libya flooding
Speed Read A powerful Mediterranean storm pummeled Libya's northeast coast, wiping out entire neighborhoods
By Peter Weber Published