Lonesome George, the last Pinta Island tortoise, died on this day in 2012 at the age of either 101 or 102. Pinta Island is one of the many islands forming the Galapagos archipelago in Ecuador. Its vegetation had been razed by goats introduced to the island by humans, removing the tortoises' food source. George was found alone on the island; A thorough search of zoos around the world showed he was the only Pinta Island tortoise left. Ol' George was an "endling," a fancy word for the last living member of a species.
He was then moved to a research facility on Santa Cruz Island. Several attempts were made at mating with other tortoises, in the hope that any hatchlings would retain his genetic material. Unfortunately, any eggs produced turned out to be inviable. In the meantime, he served as a global symbol of national wildlife preservation as the "rarest creature on Earth." The species became officially extinct the day he was found dead in 2012 by Fausto Llerena, the Galapagos National Park director who had cared for him for over four decades.
If you're ever on a trip to the Galapagos Islands, you can stop by the national park headquarters and see the now-taxidermied Lonesome George, if that's your kind of thing. For the rest of us, there's an interesting writeup on him at the Galapagos Conservancy website.
