Farewell George

Per stasera non riesco a scrivere nulla...lo farò nei prossimi giorni...quindi posto solamente l'intervista fatta al Direttore the Galapagos National Park

Interview with Mr.Edwin Naula, Director of the Galapagos National Park

from HMS Beagle Project Blog


G: In the first place my condolences for the death of Lonesome George. Can you give us some details?

EN: "Today at 8AM, Fausto Llerena, a park ranger who coincidentally rescued Lonesome George from Pinta island in 1972 and took care of him all these years, found the tortoise dead near the water in his compound. Yesterday he was fine, did not present any anomalies. We are going to conduct an autopsy to determine the cause of death which could be cardiac arrest. For Mr. Llerena this is extremely sad because he had a very personal connection with Lonesome George."


G: We are witnessing the extinction of a species. What does it mean?


EN: "This is the extinction of the fourth Galapagos tortoises species. Before the species of Santa Fe, Fernandina and Floreana died out. Now with the death of Lonesome George the Pinta species is gone. This is a message to the world and to humanity about the importance of conservation and how we must have an even stronger commitment to that goal."



G:What is the impact of this death on the Galapagos National Park?

EN: Here at the Galapagos National Park we did all we could to rescue the Pinta tortoise species and other species. We will continue with our efforts and our commitment. Tomorrow we start a herpetology workshop to figure out our strategy to restore the tortoise populations in Galapagos for the next decade.

G: Lonesome George was a great attraction for the Galapagos visitors. What is going to happen now?

EN:Lonesome George was a Galapagos icon. We will possibly embalm him and place his body in a place where those who did not see him alive can view him. We will have a press conference tomorrow at 8 am to give more information.