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-Paper Dragon
Hood Island is home to more than 1,500 Galapagos giant tortoises, according to a recent study by James Gibbs (a biology teacher at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry). You may think that this isn't a number to be impressed with, and you would be right.
Galapagos tortoises, or geochelone nigra, are an endangered species. Just 50 years ago, on one of the islands they populated, Espanola Island, there were only 14 left. However, thanks to breeding in captivity, these gentle giants can be saved. More about the tortoise: it is 50 pounds shy of weighing as much as a grand piano- the 10th heaviest living reptile around, and they can live up to over 100 years.
But why were they endangered in the first place? Surely they don’t have many predators, and they are capable of getting food for themselves. However, there are three main factors as to why there are so little today. Firstly, in the 18-19th centuries, buccaneers and seagoers would capture them in large numbers. Secondly, because tortoises can conveniently survive for long periods of time with little or no food or water, they were perfect to be rounded up on ships as a source of fresh meat during a voyage.
Finally, in the early 1900s, fishermen started to bring goats to the island for food. The goats began to eat the cacti, a staple in the tortoise diet. This didn’t just affect the population of the tortoises, but also the entire island’s ecosystem. Without the cacti seeds, many birds and other animals can’t have a stable source of food, throwing the food chain out of whack.
The island was made into a nature reserve in 1957, and the goats were brought off in the 1970s. But without the goats, strange woody plants have grown that could potentially change the ecosystem again. Researchers are confident, though, that with more tortoises on the island, everything should be back to normal in a few centuries. ⍖
Sources cited: newsweek.com, takepart.com, news.yahoo.com, webecoist, DOGOnews.com, kids.nationalgeographic.com, www.houstonzoo.org
Hood Island is home to more than 1,500 Galapagos giant tortoises, according to a recent study by James Gibbs (a biology teacher at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry). You may think that this isn't a number to be impressed with, and you would be right.
Galapagos tortoises, or geochelone nigra, are an endangered species. Just 50 years ago, on one of the islands they populated, Espanola Island, there were only 14 left. However, thanks to breeding in captivity, these gentle giants can be saved. More about the tortoise: it is 50 pounds shy of weighing as much as a grand piano- the 10th heaviest living reptile around, and they can live up to over 100 years.
But why were they endangered in the first place? Surely they don’t have many predators, and they are capable of getting food for themselves. However, there are three main factors as to why there are so little today. Firstly, in the 18-19th centuries, buccaneers and seagoers would capture them in large numbers. Secondly, because tortoises can conveniently survive for long periods of time with little or no food or water, they were perfect to be rounded up on ships as a source of fresh meat during a voyage.
Finally, in the early 1900s, fishermen started to bring goats to the island for food. The goats began to eat the cacti, a staple in the tortoise diet. This didn’t just affect the population of the tortoises, but also the entire island’s ecosystem. Without the cacti seeds, many birds and other animals can’t have a stable source of food, throwing the food chain out of whack.
The island was made into a nature reserve in 1957, and the goats were brought off in the 1970s. But without the goats, strange woody plants have grown that could potentially change the ecosystem again. Researchers are confident, though, that with more tortoises on the island, everything should be back to normal in a few centuries. ⍖
Sources cited: newsweek.com, takepart.com, news.yahoo.com, webecoist, DOGOnews.com, kids.nationalgeographic.com, www.houstonzoo.org