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Lonesome George has died, leaving the world one species poorer.

The only remaining Pinta Island tortoise and celebrated conservation icon passed away Sunday, the Galapagos National Park Service said in a statement.

Estimated to be more than 100 years old, the creature's cause of death remains unclear and a necropsy is planned.

Lonesome George's longtime caretaker, Fausto Llerena, found the tortoise's remains stretched out in the "direction of his watering hole" on Santa Cruz Island, the statement said.

Lonesome George was discovered on Pinta Island in 1972 at a time when tortoises of his type were already believed to be extinct. Since then, the animal had been part of the park service's tortoise program.

Repeated efforts to breed Lonesome George failed.

"Later two females from the Espanola tortoise population (the species most closely related to Pinta tortoises genetically) were with George until the end," the park service said.

In honor of Lonesome George, the park service said it was convening an international workshop in July on management strategies for restoring tortoise populations over the next decade.

The Galapagos Islands, situated about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) off Ecuador's coast, is considered a haven for tortoises.

Always sad to see a species go.

I thought of George Thorogood, because of the lyrics of "Who do you love?".

Shine on, George.

i wonder if they have his DNA on hand? If so, artificial insemination ftw!

Probably do, though they have tried to breed him in the past and it had failed. It's even in the OP.

JohnnoM wrote:i wonder if they have his DNA on hand? If so, artificial insemination ftw!

If they did the DNA would be at least 70 years old. I'm not sure how viable a species can be based off that, even for long lived turtles.

The name made me think some famous race horse had died.

Tortoises are very cool animals, and it is definitely sad to see the only one of a species die.

Such is Natural Selection.

If the species was not strong enough to survive, then so be it.

who are we to decide what species lives or dies?

Maybe they went extinct for a reason.

DeathReaper wrote:Such is Natural Selection.

If the species was not strong enough to survive, then so be it.

who are we to decide what species lives or dies?

ummm, so then by nature it is ok for humans to destroy the entirety of a species? Because I'm pretty sure tortoises are endangered because we hunted them to the brink of extinction.

In that case, the Tasmanian Devil had it coming. So did the Dodo. And Serenity.

Evolution is a natural force.

Homo Sapiens Sapiens are just another part of the evolutionary path.

Everything that is affected by them is just the natural order of things.

Species die every day, most we do not even know about.

What happens is going to happen, and we can either adapt, or die off. Such is life.

George's species was wiped out when Goats were introduced to the island by humans (EDIT: The goats ate all the food and they starved). It wasn't really all that natural.

Of course, I don't really give a , but George was a fairly famous animal and its a nice low key thing we can all take note of without spawning pages of arguments back and forth

You'd think so, but it looks like an evolution one may be brewing.

I should have known better. Hell I spawn some of those pages of arguments. Of all people I should have known better

DeathReaper wrote:Such is Natural Selection.

If the species was not strong enough to survive, then so be it.

Evolution is, as you say later, a natural force. But the point is that's all it is. Just as we work to resist a fire or flood, so we can also work to resist a species dying out, if we want to.

What on Earth makes you think we should just throw our hands up and say 'oh nature do as you please'.

who are we to decide what species lives or dies?

We're a conscious, intelligent species with the ability to preserve a species if we so desire. What other requirements would we have to meet to be able to decide if a species ought to survive.

DeathReaper wrote:

who are we to decide what species lives or dies?

So then do we sit idly by when one country tries to eliminate an entire group of people? I mean if they are meant to survive then they'll figure it out I'm sure.

The holocaust=natural selection? I mean after all it was the deliberate elimination of a people based on the thought that those doing the elimination were superior to those being eliminated.

Natural selection is crap. Why? Because of human interaction. You think that wild boar in the US are out of hand because they have superior aspects? It is because humans put them in situations where there are no natural predators. You think Elephants dwindled so low because they are stupid? American Bald Eagles?

They are dying off directly as a result of human interference. There is nothing natural about it. We alone on this planet have the power to either preserve or completely destroy any species. If we really wanted to, we could systematically purge the world of Yorkshire Terriers if we wanted to. Or we could go to great lengths to keep a species alive. Sometimes we realize the need for preservation too late, as in the case of this tortoise, and that of Tasmanian Devils.

There is very little that is "natural" about the way humans behave. Gorillas don't seek out and destroy every possible threat to them. They avoid those threats as much as possible and only deal with them when in immediate danger. There are no gorilla hunting parties out looking for whatever could wipe them out.

Aerethan wrote:They are dying off directly as a result of human interference. There is nothing natural about it. We alone on this planet have the power to either preserve or completely destroy any species.

Well, we are just another animal, and therefore just another part of nature. But the conclusion of that is that if we decide to keep an animal alive, it's just as 'natural' as if we were to wipe it out through industry or just killing it because we thought they looked ugly.

Really, the big point is that thinking something is good because it is 'natural' is stupid.

Aerethan wrote:

DeathReaper wrote:Such is Natural Selection.

If the species was not strong enough to survive, then so be it.

who are we to decide what species lives or dies?

ummm, so then by nature it is ok for humans to destroy the entirety of a species? Because I'm pretty sure tortoises are endangered because we hunted them to the brink of extinction.

In that case, the Tasmanian Devil had it coming. So did the Dodo. And Serenity.

The Tasmanian Devil is still around and doing relatively well, the Tasmanian Tiger on the other hand is very extinct.

Well the devil is also heading that way last I checked. Something about a disease they were spreading to each other.

Fun fact: They became the largest carnivorous marsupial after the extinction of the thylacine aka Tasmanian tiger.

Well Tazzy Devil isn't doing well. With the cancer and what not.

That's the disease. Yeh, they spread that cancer to each other through their bites which is pretty much how they communicate...

I remember reading something about Lonesome George ages ago. Shame another spiecies bites the dust, but there was little that could be done about it sadly.

As for the Evolution arguement, yeah, not going to get involved

Eventually...all the DNA's from the animals and plants on planet earth...we can bring them all back on planet "Bob"....eerrrrr Earth 2 I mean

Jihadin wrote:Eventually...all the DNA's from the animals and plants on planet earth...we can bring them all back on planet "Bob"....eerrrrr Earth 2 I mean

Ah, so you're the other fella who has watched Titan A.E.. nice to meet you.

Damn skippy

Morathi's Darkest Sin wrote:

Jihadin wrote:Eventually...all the DNA's from the animals and plants on planet earth...we can bring them all back on planet "Bob"....eerrrrr Earth 2 I mean

Ah, so you're the other fella who has watched Titan A.E.. nice to meet you.

I saw it Titan A.E.

I saw Titan A.E. as well as it was manditory by my college art professor who is mentioned the credits.

I do apologize. Tasmanian Tiger was the one I was thinking of.

The last specimens of which died in captivity by refusing to eat after being captured from the wild iirc.

I have actually seen Lonesone George, about three years ago when me and my Grandparents went on a trip to the Galapagos.

I thought they did get him to breed via artificial insemination, but the female tortises were of a different species, but his genes still live on. Could be mistaken though..

EDIT: Nope. Eggs didn't hatch. But according to Wikipedia, there are possibly a few Pinta tortises left, living among populations of a different species of tortise on a seperate island. I think they are not "pure-breds" but the genes are still there.

Aerethan wrote:I do apologize. Tasmanian Tiger was the one I was thinking of.

The last specimens of which died in captivity by refusing to eat after being captured from the wild iirc.

Yup, died in London Zoo in the early 20th century IIRC.

Sad times.

That sucks, I like turtles. But when mother nature wants to snuff out a species, I wont argue with her