Galapagos Tortoise

This “Lucky” lady was the love interest of the time of Lonesome George the famous Galapagos bachelor. Although I must admit that at the time he was not interested in her at all!! Playing hard to get I guess!!

The Galápagos tortoise or Galápagos giant tortoise (Geochelone nigra) is the largest living tortoise, native to seven islands of the Galápagos archipelago. Fully grown adults can weigh over 300 kilograms (661 lb) and measure 1.2 meters (4 ft) long.

They are long-lived, with a life expectancy in the wild estimated to be 100–150 years. Populations have fallen dramatically due to hunting and the introduction of predators and grazers by humans since the seventeenth century. Now only ten subspecies of the original twelve exist in the wild. However, conservation efforts since the establishment of the Galápagos National Park and the Charles Darwin Foundation have met with success, and hundreds of captive-bred juveniles have been released back onto their home islands. They have become emblematic of the fauna of the Galápagos Islands.