Science
Related: About this forumTortoise feared extinct found on remote Galapagos island
Source: Associated Press
Tortoise feared extinct found on remote Galapagos island
20 February 2019
LIMA, Peru (AP) A living member of species of tortoise not seen in more than 110 years and feared to be extinct has been found in a remote part of the Galapagos island of Fernandina.
An adult female Chelonoidis phantasticus, also known as the Fernandina Giant Tortoise, was spotted Sunday by a joint expedition of the Galapagos National Park and the U.S.-based Galapagos Conservancy, Ecuadors Environment Ministry said in a statement.
Investigators think there may be more members of the species on the island because of tracks and scat they found. The team took the tortoise, likely more than 100 years old, to a breeding center for giant tortoises on Santa Cruz Island where it will stay in a specially designed pen.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature has the Fernandina Giant Tortoise listed as critically endangered and possibly extinct.
The only other living member of the species was found in 1906, the group said. Since then, expeditions have encountered tortoise scat and bite marks on cacti, and there was a possible unconfirmed sighting in 2009. But Sundays discovery was the first confirmed sighting and together with the possibility of finding more members of the species has raised the possibility of breeding.
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Read more: https://apnews.com/0bbb65b972734017821dcd9b70cd0bbe
democratisphere
(17,235 posts)Hope this one and possibly others are adequately protected.
Baitball Blogger
(46,780 posts)Last edited Wed Feb 20, 2019, 10:22 PM - Edit history (1)
Stupid to take her out of her natural environment, unless they had a male specimen prepared to breed her.
Blue Owl
(50,596 posts)is Mitch Fucking McConnell...