PETALING JAYA, Jan 13 — A Galapagos tortoise named Diego may have single-handedly saved his species with his fiery libido.
France24 reported that the 100-year-old Don Juan was first brought to the US from his home island of Espanola, Ecuador to take part in a captive breeding programme in the 1960s.
His species was on the brink of extinction 50 years ago with just two males and 12 females alive on the island.
Thanks to Diego’s sexual prowess, the number of Galapagos tortoises have bloomed to over 2,000.
The Galapagos National Parks (PNG) service believes that 40 per cent of the current population was fathered by the promiscuous critter, who resided in the San Diego Zoo in California for several decades.
Now, Diego is set to return home to Espanola and live out his remaining years in the wild.
“He's contributed a large percentage to the lineage that we are returning to Espanola.
“There's a feeling of happiness to have the possibility of returning that tortoise to his natural state,” PNG director Jose Carrion told AFP.
Fifteen tortoises were involved in the breeding programme to save the Chelonoidis hoodensis species but none performed quite as well as Diego, whose Casanova ways have given a renewed sense of hope for the endangered reptiles.
“About 1,800 tortoises have been returned to Espanola and now with natural reproduction, we have approximately 2,000 tortoises.
“This shows that they are able to grow, they are able to reproduce, they are able to develop,” said Carrion.
Diego’s native archipelago, the Galapagos Islands, is famed for its rich biodiversity which was studied by English scientist Charles Darwin in the 19th century.
These observations provided the foundation for Darwin’s groundbreaking theory of evolution and natural selection.
