Diego the giant tortoise hatched on the Galápagos island of Española more than 100 years ago. He spent most of his life in captivity. Then, this past June, Diego finally returned to his island home.
In the early 1930s, Diego was taken from the wild to live at the San Diego Zoo in California. By 1970, Diego was one of only 15 giant Española tortoises left on Earth. Scientists wanted to save the species, so they decided to start a captive breeding program. Diego was transported from the zoo to a conservation center on the Galápagos island of Santa Cruz. There, he joined the remaining 14 Española tortoises. The goal of this program was to help the animals reproduce. Today, there are more than 2,000 Española tortoises—and at least 800 of them are Diego’s children.
After helping save their species, Diego and the other original Española tortoises have now been released back into the wild. “These founders are survivors,” said James Gibbs, a conservationist at the Galapagos Conservancy. “They represent the success of the program.”