In our final Isabela landing we visit the land turtoise breeding center. Of the originally 14 land turtoise species, four are extinct (the famous "lonesome George", last of his species, died last year). 20-30 years ago, a couple more species have been close to distinction, with as few as 10 or less animals left. Turtoise extinction has been almost exclusively been due to human intervention, starting with the pirates who used turtoises as living food stock, all the way to human inhabitants of Galapagos who still ate turtoise meat in the 60s and 70s.

The turtoise breeding project has been founded to enlighten the population and re-establish a large turtoise population (around 1 million animals). Since turtoises need decades before being able to reproduce and being able to survive in the wild, the project is very long-term. However, you can already see all kinds of turtoises - small and huge (from a few grams up to 150 kg!), young and old (from a few days to over 100 years). I really like the babies (see picture), and the huge old ones with their long necks and big feet.

We did not see any turtoises in the wild during our trip, but if the project keeps working, hopefully the next generation will be able to see them easily.