Giant tortoise who helped save species retires in Galapagos Islands

. But Diego has garnered attention for his"big personality" and for being"quite aggressive, active and vocal in his mating habits," James Gibbs, a professor of environmental and forest biology at the State University of New York in Syracuse, told the Times.

Giant tortoise species had seen the worst depopulation on the Galapagos Islands, and feral goats are the likely culprit. The Times that whalers likely introduced the goats to the islands as food nearly 200 years ago. The goats combined with a dearth of vegetation kept tortoises from thriving.from Española Island by 1978 and from several other islands in the archipelago by 2006. And while the tortoise population has made major gains, it has a long way to go to grow to the size of its original population: between 200,000 and 300,000 tortoises.

For now, though, the 15 original breeding adults — including Diego — are expected to be released to their native Española Island in March following a quarantine process.

300 years and dude finally gets to retire.....awesome

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