Who are they? A couple of lovers looking for privacy? One male tortoise showing his mate a nice swimming pool, with no water left? This is none other than lonesome George and one of the females that shares his corral. He is the famous male tortoise from Pinta Island. A celebrity because he is, unfortunately, the last one of his kind. The depredations of sailors, fishermen and collectors led to the extinction of the tortoises of Pinta.
George was brought to the National Park and Charles Darwin Station in 1972, and ever since then there has been a search for the right female for him. For several years he has been sharing his corral with two female tortoises from Wolf volcano. It was originally thought that these were the closest subspecies to George's (genetically speaking), since they are the closest geographically. However it has recently been discovered that the tortoises from Española and San Cristobal Islands are more closely related to George.
We understand now why George has never shown any interest, or even sympathy, towards his female tortoise companions. But today we were lucky enough to witness the unexpected: George and Georgina were very close to each other, heading towards George's private swimming pool. Does this mean that his strict diet and that the aphrodisiacs are finally working?
