Research Paper On Galapagos Tortoise

The Galapagos Tortoise

The Galapagos Island Tortoise or “Giant Tortoise” is a very interesting breed of reptile. They can live up to 1 year without drinking or eating anything because of their internal structure. The tortoise has been put on the endangered species list by the Ecuadorian government since there are less than 15,000 left on the islands. There are a lot of preservation attempts being used to save them, but wild animals and poachers are still threatening the species. Important things to know are what makes them such a special species, why people would hunt them, and what’s being done to save them.

According to National geographic writer Tim Laman these tortoises live on average 100+ years and will grow to be about 4 feet long

and weigh around 475 pounds. Their weight is a big reason they were hunted from the 17th-19th centuries. They were easy to catch and had a lot of meat under their shells. Tortoises breed primarily during the hot season, and in the cold seasons the female tortoises migrate to nesting zones to lay their eggs. She will dig a hole with her hind feet to drop the legs down into. The eggs will incubate from 110 to 175 days, if the eggs were laid early in the cool season then the need a longer incubation period. Today, the largest group of the tortoise left is on Volcano Alcedo in Isabela Island. This is where about 3,000-5,000 tortoises live free. They live a very simple life that consists of grazing and sleeping. They will sleep around 16 hours a day, something everyone I know would love to do. Another cool trick these tortoises have is how they get rid of fleas and ticks. They wait until they see a mockingbird or a finch and they raise themselves high up on their back two legs and stretch out their necks. This allows the birds to jump around and eat all the parasites off them.
Another fascinating fact about the Giant tortoises is the way they got so big. It is believe that the tortoises started out as average sized tortoises, and then through years and years of evolution the tortoises began to get bigger. These tortoises also have a few means of communications but mostly behavioral. Tortoises competing for a female will stand tall, face each other with open mouths, and stretch out their long necks. The highest head is the winner and the other tortoise walks away. The only vocal communication is with males when they grunt while mating, like a mooing cow, while the female makes no sound. This is due to the phenomenon that occurs in many islands where gigantism evolves to a species because there is no need for the species to hide anymore. These tortoises are the reason the Galapagos Island got their name. Galapagos is Spanish for “tortoise.” They are a simple and easy going creature and its sad how people want to “hunt” them.
Hunting is a sport and attacking an animal that sleeps for 16 hours a day isn’t much of a hunt at all.

They were most commonly used for sailors who had long journey’s to make and needed a supply of fresh meat. The tortoises can store enough water and food in them to survive an entire year without eating. This made them a good source of fresh meat to the sailors who would capture them and keep them alive on board until they needed them. The tortoises are a great source of meat because some Giant Tortoises can reach up to five feet long and get up to 550 pounds. 550 pounds of fresh meat was huge for sailors and could last them a long time. They also were killed for many other reasons. They were also used to make utensils, such as bowls. They were also killed for their shells and their fine ‘turtle oil.’ The tortoise population also diminished because early settlers cleared large areas of their habitat for agriculture and raised livestock. Some settlers brought domestic animals with them and many of them became wild. These new species introduced to the islands were disastrous on the tortoises because they were new animals and the tortoises did not know whether they were friend or foe. Poaching is rare today with all the protection the tortoises have, but poaching was a huge problem for a long time. More than 120 tortoises have been killed by poachers since 1990. This number is way down due to the efforts of the people trying to protect these endangered tortoises. An estimated

population of 100,000 tortoises lived there before the poaching problem began. Now they are down to 15,000, preservation attempts are being made to save them.
When there were 100,000 of them left scientists predicted there to be about 15 subspecies of the tortoise there.

Now, they estimate at least 4 of the subspecies are extinct. The Charles Darwin Foundation teamed up with The Galapagos Island National Park Service in 1959. This is when only 11 of the 14 original populations of tortoise on the island were still alive. They noticed the problem on an island where the population of Giant Tortoise thrived, started to drop. Although Giant Tortoises are the longest lived of all vertebrates, averaging a life-span of over 100 years, they are still in threat of extinction. The oldest Giant Tortoise on record was about 152 years old. Then before they knew what happened less than 200 Giant Tortoises were found there. They soon realized wild animals like rats and pigs were eating the eggs. An estimate of a century was given before they would have been extinct without the help of people who want to help them survive. They started to take the eggs and raise them until they were about four or five and were considered to be strong enough to survive rats and other predators. The worst situation the animal had to face was on Española Island, where only 14 Giant Tortoises remained. Just two males and twelve females remained on the island, where there had been thousands roaming in the past. They were all taken in for a breeding program. This eventually led to actions being taken on all of the Galapagos Islands to help the species

survive.
They started to consider their plans a success when progress occurred in many ways. The biggest achievement was the breeding program on Española Island where 1,700 tortoises were reacquainted with the island. Another big stride was on Pinzón Island where 550 tortoises were reinstated to their homeland. Then, they started to remove feral goats from all the islands since they were a huge threat to the species for their entire lives. In the next ten years they have huge goals for the species and restoration of the islands. They wish to achieve the following: restore the tortoise population (even those that are considered extinct in the wild), restore habitat conditions, and improve the outreach to others and receive more help.
The Darwin Foundation and some other groups plan to restore the Giant Tortoise population by breeding, rearing, and repatriation programs. The Santa Cruz tortoise center built breeding corrals which involved several nesting zones. The corrals are constructed by excavating an area and providing the correct type of soil that allows the female tortoises to successfully nest. Once the eggs are produced the park rangers will take the eggs and place them in incubators. Research shows that the sex of the offspring is decided by the temperature the eggs are kept at so in order to help the populations increase more rapidly, every two out of three eggs are kept at the female temperature and the remaining egg is kept at the male temperature. Next comes the rearing program. Once the eggs hatch, for the first two years of their life they are kept in an enclosed corral. Once the tortoise reaches about two years old they are transferred to an adaptation corral. The adaptation corrals are fenced in sections on natural terrain where the tortoises can roam freely and feed on natural vegetation. The third restoration process is the repatriation programs. In this program, young tortoises are returned to their island of origin at four to five years of age. This is the age where the tortoises have the best chance of future survival. The animals are first quarantined prior to transport, then transported on a boat in wooden boxes, then carried in backpacks by rangers up to the appropriate release site. As of 2013, more than 4,000 tortoises have been repatriated to the islands they were first taken from.
There are 3 major stakeholders when dealing with Galapagos Island Tortoises. Scientist dealing with the aging process is a big one. The other two would be the Galapagos Island Government who depends on the wild tortoise population to bring in tourist along with the tourist who has a desire to see them in their natural habitat.
There are scientists that believe tortoises contain the secret to longer human life. A process called negligible senescence is studied in tortoises. Senescence is the study of aging. Negligible senescence is a trait that very few animals show. It’s when an animal shows no measurable decrease in survival skills such as speed and strength. It basically slows down the cellular damage to an organism and in tortoises is a virtual standstill. There was a tortoise that died in 2006 that was around 255 years old. The carbon dating of the tortoises shell proved he was born around 1750. He didn’t even die of old age though. He died from a wound that had cracked his shell and led to liver failure. Because tortoises have negligible senescence this 255 year old tortoise would have been as agile as a 80 year old tortoise the day of his death if he didn’t have liver failure. The answer to the longer life for humans could be in the DNA of tortoises. This answer might never be found if tortoise species continued to die. This makes all scientists a stakeholder in the survival of Galapagos Island tortoises (3).
Many people travel to see these animals in the Galapagos Islands. However, the government has recently started to close off the two main pathways for people to see the tortoises. They are saying the interaction of tourists with the tortoises is getting disrespectful. They have reports of people mistreating the animals and littering. Without these tortoises the Island is experiencing a drop in tourism. This just proves how critical the species is to the economy of the islands there. They still have a few spots where one could go to see the tortoises, yet the up close and personal view of them is being determined whether or not it will be suspended or terminated. Some other animals people would travel to the Galapagos Islands are Iguanas, Darwin’s Finches, and Burrito Grunt Fish. That is to name a few. The Galapagos Islands are also the only place where you could large sea animals like Manta Rays, Hammerhead sharks, and Tunas. The many species of giant Tortoise, however, are extremely popular and that is why many zoos in North America have them in exhibits.
Sadly, another stakeholder would be black market pet owners. The black market is known for taking some of these beautiful animals and selling them because they are an interesting pet. Some poachers still sell them in the black market and some use their shells to make interesting house pieces like lamps and mantle pieces. This is the modern form of the old day pirates to the tortoise populations. Both are a very terrible part of destroying the habitats and number of individuals left.
All in all, the tortoises should become more abundant in the future. The species is being well cared for. They are an interesting breed and because of that were hunted for way to long. There are many stakeholders for this animal and the reasons for it surviving can be as important as longer human life. The Galapagos Islands wouldn’t be the same without the roaming tortoises and there amazing traits. The only thing left to say is thank you to the Charles Darwin Foundation and Ecuadorian government for taking care of this tragedy.