Lonesome George was not so lonely

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When Lonesome George, the last Pinta Island giant tortoise, died in June on the Galapagos Islands, the world mourned the demise of a species. A report on Wednesday, however, says that George was not so lonely after all.

There are at least 17 tortoises on the Galapagos that have similar genetic traits to George, including some that may be from his genus, the Galapagos National Park said in a statement.

George's death on June 24 "does not represent the end of the … species of Pinta Island giant tortoises," the statement said.

The Galapagos, located about 1,000 kilometers off Ecuador's coast, is an archipelago of 13 islands and more than 100 rocks and micro-islands. The islands were uninhabited when Europeans first visited in the 16th century. Today they have a population of about 25,000.

Lonesome George, who was believed to be 100 years old when he died, was discovered on Pinta Island in 1972, at a time when tortoises of his type were believed to be extinct.

Research conducted with Yale University experts "identified nine females, three males and five youths with genes of the Pinta Island giant tortoise species," the statement read.

Researchers analyzed more than 1,600 DNA samples taken in 2008 from tortoises living on the Wolf Volcano, on Isabella Island, and compared them to George's DNA as well as samples taken from the Pinta tortoise museum.

The results mean that there could be "additional hybrids on the Wolf Volcano, and even individuals on Pinta that could be pure," the statement said.

Experts estimate there were once some 300,000 giant tortoises on the remote Pacific archipelago, but the species was decimated in the 18th and 19th centuries by whalers and pirates who took them aboard their ships as fresh food and introduced new predators.

Today there are between 30,000 and 40,000 tortoises of 10 different species on the Galapagos.

Questions:

1. How many tortoises are thought to be on Galapagos Islands?

2. Which famous tortoise died this year?

3. Where is Galapagos Islands?

Answers:

1. At least 17.

2. Lonesome George, a Pinta Island giant tortoise.

3. About 1,000 kilometers off Ecuador's coast.

（中國日報網英語點津 Helen 編輯）

About the broadcaster:

Nelly Min is an editor at China Daily with more than 10 years of experience as a newspaper editor and photographer. She has worked at major newspapers in the U.S., including the Los Angeles Times and the Detroit Free Press. She is also fluent in Korean.