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Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Another Little Corner of the World...


Today's post is not about my little corner of the world...


...but instead, a little corner of the world I was honored to visit last year.

If you've heard of the Galapagos Islands, then it just may be that you've heard of 
Lonesome George...

Lonesome George became a symbol of the Galapagos and "the urgent 
need to conserve nature"...
all kinds of souvenir paraphernalia throughout the islands featured some kind of 
rendering of Lonesome George...

Lonesome George died Sunday, at the age of approximately 100 years young.
That's only middle aged for a Pinta island giant tortoise.

What makes this an especially sad time is that Lonesome George was believed to be the 
last of his species.  Many attempts were made to "help" Lonesome George to 
mate and bring forth offspring, but apparently it never took.

While we were in the Galapagos, we were at the Charles Darwin Research Center
and visited Lonesome George.  
He may have been the last of his species, but he was a popular guy...







12 comments:

  1. Oh, that is so sad. I'm so glad you got to meet him.

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  2. Glad you were able to meet him and great capture!Have a great day!

    Shantana

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  3. The story is scary in today's environment of waste and consumption!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.

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  4. Oh I'm glad you got to see him when you were there. So sad.
    V

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  5. I always wanted to go and see Lonesome George... I guess he just couldn't wait any long for me. I am sad to have missed and even sadder to think something totally irreplaceable has been for ever lost.

    Mollyxxx

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  6. That is so, so sad. I have tremendous respect and admiration for turtles/tortoises of all kinds.

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  7. Stunning portrait, lovely words.

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  8. Kathy - such an honor to him to place him on your site! We are so blessed to have had such a remarkable opportunity to witness the beauty of something rare, and now extinct, in person. Miracles in life occur in different forms....I now realize what a miracle it was to be an eyewitness to his 100-year life!

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  9. I felt sorry for him not having any more of his kind, Adele...but apparently, he didn't lack for dates and company!!!

    Thanks Nature Stop!!!

    It is strange to know that I saw the last of a species Gary...but quite an honor!!! One of the really cool things about the Darwin Research Station is that they've been very successful at increasing the population of other sub species of the giant tortoise...

    I agree Jean...

    Me too Virginia!

    Molly...After we returned from the Galapagos, I remember reading an article somewhere that there's a possibility Lonesome George is not the last, but I don't remember where I read that...I'm going to have to search the internet...

    He was one of a kind Bibi...literally!!!

    Thanks Hiker!

    We saw him together Ramona!!! Thanks to you and Pat for getting our little group together on that fabulous trip!!!

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  10. I heard about this on the news. Pretty sad... thanks for the photo!

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  11. I didn't hear about it on the news Pat...maybe because I don't watch or listen to it much!!! One of our fellow Island trekkers sent me the story by email!!!

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