Our next meeting will feature a presentation by long-time CTTC supporter, Professor Fred Caporaso from Chapman University.
He will be speaking about Galapagos Tortoise conservation.
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"Back from the dead! Extinction isn’t always forever!"
The remarkable story of the Floreana Island Galápagos Giant Tortoise, a species thought to be extinct in 1850!
“One of the goals of the Giant Tortoise Restoration Initiative is to re-establish reproductive tortoise populations on islands where humans caused their extinction. Tortoises went extinct on Floreana and Santa Fe Islands in the mid-1800s and on Pinta Island in 2012, with the death of Lonesome George. Over the last two decades, genetic analysis of Galapagos tortoises — both from the wild and from museum specimens — has opened a window of opportunity for cutting-edge conservation to restore tortoise populations to islands where they are extinct. This is an important component of island restoration, as these growing tortoise populations will provide ecosystem “engineering” by trampling vegetation, opening areas, and dispersing seeds, which helps to recover ecosystem processes and provides improved habitat conditions for other native species.” James Gibbs, former President of Galapagos Conservancy
In 2015, a party of park rangers and scientists returned to Wolf volcano and identified more than 30 animals with particularly saddle-backed shells and transported them to the captive breeding center on Santa Cruz. Based on DNA analysis nine males and 14 females were selected to form the Floreana hybrid restoration breeding group. By early 2024, there were 400 young tortoises ready to be released onto Floreana (the first year after the eradication of rats and feral cats).
In January 2024 I led a group of TTPG supporters to the Galápagos islands. We visited both Floreana Island and the Fausto Llerena Tortoise Breeding Center on Santa Cruz Island. I will share some photos of the Floreana hybrid restoration breeding group and 400 of their offspring, just prior to their release into the wild.
Fred Caporaso, Ph.D., FIFT
Professor of Food Science and Honors Faculty
Schmid College of Science and Technology
Chapman University
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If you have a turtle/tortoise you wish to bring and tell us about, please do! We would love to hear your story.
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Zoom Meeting Link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88097105365
Meeting ID: 880 9710 5365
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