7 replies to this topic

[Cal]

Hi Crew,

Thought I'd share this

"Lonesome George, the last remaining tortoise of his kind and a conservation icon, died on Sunday of unknown causes, the Galapagos National Park said. He was thought to be about 100 years old."

Full article

[Kimmeineche]

Sorry to read that another specie has left the planet! :-(

If my mind remembers right, I saw a dokumentary years ago, that told us about a tortoise that could be about 250years old? It should even had been allive at the time of Napoleon..... unfortuanetly I don't remember the name of the film but I'm quite sure it was a BBC production!

May you RIP dear George!

Kim Meineche!

Hi Crew,

Thought I'd share this

"Lonesome George, the last remaining tortoise of his kind and a conservation icon, died on Sunday of unknown causes, the Galapagos National Park said. He was thought to be about 100 years old."

Full article

[Steve Douglas]

Wow, this one surprised me. Thought he'd live forever. Glad I got to meet him a couple of times, the first time he was amazingly active that time. Still have my Lonesome George tank top from 94.
RIP
Steve

[gee13]

Remaining relic of oligocene period circa 20-30 million years... astounding thought as I sit here typing on my smartphone via wifi..

[danielandrewclem]

Reminds me of Tu'i Malila, the Madagascar tortoise given to the Tongan royal family by Captain James Cook in 1777. Tu'i Malila was a veritable member of the royal family until his death in 1965. Quite a life.

[Steve Douglas]

Wow, that's considerably older than Lonesome Geoge was. I do recall the Capt. Cook story a bit regarding the tortoise. Where did Tu'i reside during most of that time? England?
steve

[danielandrewclem]

Wow, that's considerably older than Lonesome Geoge was. I do recall the Capt. Cook story a bit regarding the tortoise. Where did Tu'i reside during most of that time? England?
steve

I think remained with the Tongan royal family at the "palace" in Nuku'alofa, though he was probably in Ha'apai in the early years because that's where the royals were based back then, IIRC.

Julia Whitty wrote a really nice piece of historical fiction about Tu'i Malila, tracking him and the royals through multiple generations and (obviously) quite a bit of change and cultural upheaval in the kingdom. There was one poignant scene of him trying to mate with nesting sea turtles that had come ashore. It was in Harper's magazine about 12 years ago—can't access it without a Harper's subscription—but I think she published a book of essays that goes by the essay's title, "A Tortoise for the Queen of Tonga." A fellow Peace Corps vol gave me the essay when I first arrived in Tonga.

Supposedly Tu'i's dried-out body is on display at the Tongan National Center, which is a small museum not far from Nuku'alofa, on the main island.

[Steve Douglas]

Thanks for the info. Since Tu'i lived so much longer than George, I wonder if they will do a necropsy to discover why he passed away when he was barely middle aged.
Steve