Galapagos Adventure - Santa Cruz, Charles Darwin Research Station

Sign at the Charles Darwin Research Station (ps)

At the Charles Darwin Research Center we learned about the way the giant land tortoises are being preserved. Thousands of baby tortoises are hatched and raised in the Center's breeding program until able to live on their own, when the Center will return them to the islands of their origins.

Galapagos Giant Tortoise babies 3-6 years old (sz)

Our naturalist, Graciela, took us on a narrated tour through the Center grounds where she used to work as a volunteer early in her career. Seeing the huge beasts for the first time outside of a movie or TV was extraordinary. We met Diego, a hundred year old "stud," who has fathered more babies than any other known male tortoise in captivity.

Diego was repatriated from the San Diego Zoo (sz)

We met a group of female tortoises, all rescued from various islands, some having been kept in the past as pets, all happy together now with a wading pool and plenty of fresh vegetation to eat.

Galapagos Female Giant Tortoises (ps)

Then we met the famous Lonesome George, a huge tortoise of over 100 years, who is the last living example of his particular species. George, a discerning gentleman, refuses to mate no matter what enticements have been offered. He spends his days sharing a large shady compound with a nice pool with several "younger" females (100 years old each to his even older age). Nothing doing. George's only interaction with the "girls" is to drive them away form the pool when he wants to go in!