Lonesome George, the last of his subspecies, has died, leaving the Galapagos with one less species. Lonesome George was a member of the subspecies Chelnoidis abingdoni and was from the southernmost island in the Galapagos, Pinta Island.

Lonesome George – or Jorge – was first spotted by a Hungarian scientist and goat hunters in 1972. Scientists and researchers have been trying to eradicate the goat population on the Galapagos Island because they have destroyed the habitats for many of the native species. In fact between the hunting by sailors and fishermen for meat in the nineteenth century and the invasive goat species many of the tortoise species on the Galapagos are endangered or extinct. Currently there are still 20,000 tortoises of varying subspecies living in the Galapagos.

George was brought to Galapagos National Park shortly after being discovered where Ranger Fausto Llerena cared for him for forty years. Llerena noticed on Sunday, June 24 that George was not moving and when he examined him found that George was dead.

According to Llerena it seemed as though George was trying to get to the watering hole in his corral. The cause of death is unknown but the body is in a refrigeration chamber and an autopsy will be completed later. After the cause of death is determined he will most likely be embalmed to be preserved.

George’s age was estimated around one hundred years old although his exact age was unknown. For the giant tortoises, one hundred is equivalent to the age of a young adult as most live to be two hundred years old.

Lonesome George became was considered the rarest creature in the world for most scientists according to the BBC. George was also a symbol of the Galapagos Islands which draws around 180,000 tourists a year.

Scientists attempted to breed more of George’s subspecies by introducing him into a breeding program. Scientists originally used females from the Wolf Volcano region of Isabela Island subspecies. George lived with the females for fifteen years before they mated but the eggs were infertile. After this mating attempted failed he was placed in a corral with females that were genetically closer to him from the island of Espanola.

Next month there will be an international workshop of scientists who will work together to plan how best to manage and protect the tortoise population of the Galapagos for the next ten years. Galapagos National Park said in a statement, “the workshop will be held in honor of Lonesome George. The creature’s legacy will be greater efforts in research and management to restore the Pinta Island population and all the other giant tortoise populations in the Galapagos.”

Giant tortoises, which is galapagos in Spanish, are the namesake of the string of islands about 1000 kilometers (620 miles) off the Ecuadorian mainland in the Pacific Ocean. The islands acted as a natural laboratory for the English scientist Charles Darwin who created his theory of evolution and natural selection during his visit to the island. He later wrote his theories in his landmark book “The Origin of Species.”

Image Courtesy of  A. Davey

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The Komodo dragons are considered as the largest living lizards on the earth. These dragons reach up to 3 meters (9.84 feet) length, and weighted up to 70 Kilograms (154.33 pound). These creatures are not fire breathing dragon as mythological dragons, also they are very quick mover and fast swimmers despite of their large size.

They can be found in the Komodo National Park in Indonesia.The park is consists of three major islands; Komodo, Pulau Rinca and Padar with other smaller islands.The National Park was established in these islands in 1980 and in 1986 was declared as UNISCO world heritage site.

Pantai Merah (pink beach) is a beach with pink sands is one of the famous destinations in the park. The pink color of the sands comes from the mixture of red and white sands. The red color of the sand came from the too much Foraminiferas, which are single-cell creature. Pulau Rinca Island has also other creatures than the dragons, in this island you can find wild pigs, monkeys and horses.

Also during nights you can see legions of bats are covering the sky. Because of the danger of Komodo dragons; tourists are not allowed to do the tour without local guides. The tour in the Islands can be done by foot, as no motor or road transportation methods on the islands. Also the travel can use chartered boats to go around the islands and to move from island to island within the park.

Komodo national park is also a popular distention of diving; it consists of very rich species of sponges, corals, sharks, dolphins, whales and marine reptiles. While diving; the diver should be careful about the sharp rocks on the reefs. Around 4000 inhabitants the total population are living in the villages with in the park area, most of them descent of Bugis ethnic group.

The population is predominantly following Islam as a religion with minorities of Christians and Hindu. The climate of the islands is tropical around the year with short rainy season from January to April. The maximum temperature is about 43 Celsius degrees (109.4 Fahrenheit degrees) during April to October, while the minimum is in August; about 18 Celsius degrees (64.4 Fahrenheit degrees).

To get in the park the travel can use air, land or sea ways based on traveler budget and his requirement. To get by air he can use either Labuan Bajo airport on the western of the park or Bima airport on the eastern side. Both airports have daily direct flights from Denpasar air, Bali. For land option both gateway cities are connected with Bali by daily scheduled buses.

Also if you would prefer to come by sea by inter-city ferries, you can use ferry service from any coastal city in Indonesia. Finally it is worth mentioning that on 11^th of November 2011, the park was considered as one of the Seven Wonders of Nature after four years of internet voting.

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