Simulation modeling to support restoration of extinct Galapagos giant tortoise populations
In the 19th century, populations of giant tortoises in the Galapagos Islands were decimated by whalers and pirates, who kept and killed tortoises on their ships as a resilient source of fresh meat for long ocean voyages. Particularly hard-hit were “saddlebacked” species that inhabited the islands’ arid lowlands closer to the coasts. Of the five saddlebacked species, two have been declared extinct: Chelonoidis elephantopus from Floreana Island and C. abingdonii from Pinta Island (the latter only recently declared extinct in 2012 with the death of the Lonesome George). However, geneticists have recently discovered that, through the translocating behaviors of the very same sailors, the genotypes of these extinct species still exist within individuals of mixed ancestry on Wolf Volcano on Isabela Island. An expedition in 2015 recovered some of these mixed ancestry tortoises and brought them into captivity with the hope of starting a captive breeding program to restore tortoise populations on Floreana and Pinta Islands that represent the original genotype of the native species. ...