The Last of His Kind, Lonesome George, Dies at 100

[Carolyn Bailey]

How do you feel about mourning the death of George as the loss of a species?  Should animal rights advocates regard George's death as equivalent to the hundreds of thousands of other individuals who also met their death today, or is the loss of a species more significant than that? 

 

 

The Last of His Kind, Lonesome George, Dies at 100

 

 

Lonesome George, the last remaining tortoise of his kind, has died at Galapagos National Park.

Staff at the park said they did not know what killed the ancient tortoise, thought to be 100 years old.

"This morning the park ranger in charge of looking after the tortoises found Lonesome George, his body was motionless," the head of the park, Edwin Naula, told Reuters.

"His life cycle came to an end."

The last member of the La Pinta Island Tortoise subspecies was found by humans in 1972 and became an environmental celebrity.

Scientists tried to pair him up with other species of tortoises twice but the resulting eggs were infertile.

The park is considering embalming his body and putting it on display.