The giant tortoise, Diego has taken his retirement to an uninhabited island off the coast of Equador after taxing his libido tirelessly to save his species from extinction.
Diego has been working as a breeding machine at Galapagos National Park for the last few decades. The entire tortoise population was two males and twelve females when he arrived. The island population has topped 2,000 tortoises, with the feisty old Diego the patriarch of 40 percent of the population due to his incredible fertility.
Diego lived at the San Diego zoo before coming here. He was brought to the Galapagos due to the tortoise population crisis. The islands, which are located about 600 miles off the coast of Ecuador, are classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It has millions of visitors a year. The Galapagos Islands have been suffering from over-tourism.
Now he’s returning to his home island of Española. He was admired by some of the biggest conservation groups. Paulo Proaño Andrade, Ecuador’s environment minister, on Twitter, that “Fifteen tortoises from Española, including Diego, are going home after decades of breeding in captivity and saving their species from extinction. Their island receives them with open arms.”
Cerramos un capítulo importante en la gestión del @parquegalapagos, 15 tortugas de #Española, incluyendo a #Diego, regresan a casa tras décadas de reproducirse en cautiverio y salvar a su especie de la extinción. Su isla las recibe con los brazos abiertos. (Noticia en desarrollo) pic.twitter.com/M4a4maQm9E
— Paulo Proaño Andrade (@PauloProanoA) June 15, 2020
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has marked the occasion, posting on Twitter on Monday that Diego had returned home to his “natural environment” in the Galapagos Islands.
The UNEP added, “The giant tortoise is over 100 years old and produced around 800 offspring.”
???? Diego regresó hoy a su ambiente natural en la isla Española del archipiélago de Galápagos ??, tras décadas de reproducirse en cautiverio para salvar a su especie.
— Programa ONU Medio Ambiente (@unep_espanol) June 15, 2020
La tortuga gigante más de 100 años tuvo alrededor de 800 crías.
¡Bien hecho Diego! https://t.co/jUgRnJFTVs pic.twitter.com/SA7bQz7GxG
sources used : vidurabarrios.com
