Floreana giant tortoise reintroduced to Galápagos island after almost 200 years

Subspecies driven to extinction by hungry whalers returns after ‘back breeding’ programme using partial descendantsGiant tortoises, the life-giving engineers of remote small island ecosystems, are plodding over the Galápagos island of Floreana for the first time in more than 180 years.The Floreana giant tortoise (Chelonoidis niger niger), a subspecies of the giant tortoise once found across the Galápagos, was driven to extinction in the 1840s by whalers who removed thousands from the volcanic island to provide a living larder during their hunting voyages. Continue reading…