Santa Cruz Island
Our second full day in the Galápagos Islands was dedicated to the program for the conservation and restoration of the dynasty of the Galápagos giant land tortoises. These gentle giant reptiles are the emblem of the archipelago and a World Nature Inheritance.
The Galápagos National Park Service (GNPS) together with the Charles Darwin Foundation (CDF) have been working hand-in-hand since the 1960s to help this species reproduce in captivity and refill the islands with the original numbers of this species.
Giant land tortoises were very much affected through history because of human predation. Pirates, buccaneers, whalers and early settlers fed on tortoise meat and lit their candles with turtle oil.
We learned well from our naturalists about the big success of this breeding program that has already recovered several thousands of land tortoises that are happily reproducing in the wild and in their original islands of origin. Some populations of the Galápagos land iguana are also grown in captivity in this area.
The afternoon was highlighted by marvelous greenery surrounding us and the wild land tortoises wondering all around us! We had a little refreshing rain fall and observed several giant land tortoises. Some very large males were really the delight of us all.
These animals walk up and down from the lowlands to the green areas of Santa Cruz to feed and drink water from the fresh water ponds and then down again to nest in the dry area. There are a couple of thousands of them roaming freely in the wild.
This was a fabulous day in the company of these gentle giants.
Our second full day in the Galápagos Islands was dedicated to the program for the conservation and restoration of the dynasty of the Galápagos giant land tortoises. These gentle giant reptiles are the emblem of the archipelago and a World Nature Inheritance.
The Galápagos National Park Service (GNPS) together with the Charles Darwin Foundation (CDF) have been working hand-in-hand since the 1960s to help this species reproduce in captivity and refill the islands with the original numbers of this species.
Giant land tortoises were very much affected through history because of human predation. Pirates, buccaneers, whalers and early settlers fed on tortoise meat and lit their candles with turtle oil.
We learned well from our naturalists about the big success of this breeding program that has already recovered several thousands of land tortoises that are happily reproducing in the wild and in their original islands of origin. Some populations of the Galápagos land iguana are also grown in captivity in this area.
The afternoon was highlighted by marvelous greenery surrounding us and the wild land tortoises wondering all around us! We had a little refreshing rain fall and observed several giant land tortoises. Some very large males were really the delight of us all.
These animals walk up and down from the lowlands to the green areas of Santa Cruz to feed and drink water from the fresh water ponds and then down again to nest in the dry area. There are a couple of thousands of them roaming freely in the wild.
This was a fabulous day in the company of these gentle giants.
