Tortoises v. Rats and Goats in the Galapagos

Abstract

Each of the larger islands of the Galapagos has (or had) its own subspecies of giant tortoise. Today ten are known to survive, but two are in serious danger, one of them, on Isla Pinzon (Duncan), because introduced black rats eat the young. To save them the Charles Darwin Research Station has successfully reared young tortoises in the station and will this year return 29 four-year-olds (which are large enough to cope with the rats) to their native island. A new tortoise-breeding centre was built last year, and the work is being extended. This article, which describes the rearing programme and comments on the general tortoise situation in the Galapagos, is based on information supplied by Roger Perry, the retiring Director, who has been largely responsible for this successful breeding programme. An article on the Galapagos tortoises by Dr David Snow, a former Director of the CDRS, was published in ORYX, December 1964.