#chelonoidis niger

A Galapagos giant tortoise (Chelonoidis niger) on Isla Santa Cruz, Galapagos, Ecuador

Face full of muck!

Chelonoidis Niger, "Galápagos Tortoise"

Galapagos giant tortoises (Chelonoidis niger) in Santa Cruz's Highlands. Galapagos Archipelago

Off for a wander in the sunshine!

Chelonoidis Niger Porteri, “Western Santa Cruz Giant Tortoise”

Let’s eat our greens with mama!

Chelonoidis Niger, “Galápagos Tortoise”

More than 150 giant tortoises have been reintroduced to Floreana Island in Ecuador’s famed Galapagos archipelago where they disappeared more than a century ago, the environment ministry said Friday. Park rangers carried large crates containing the 158 tortoises on their backs, hiking seven kilometers (four miles) across volcanic terrain and hard-to-access areas before releasing them, the ministry said in a statement. “For the first time in over a century, Floreana is once again home to giant tortoises, a species that plays a strategic role as ecosystem engineers: seed dispersers, vegetation regulators, and promoters of natural habitat regeneration,” it said. The Galapagos Islands, a World Heritage Site, are situated some 1,000 kilometers off the coast of Ecuador. They are famous for their unique flora and fauna and are where British scientist Charles Darwin developed his theory of evolution. An NGO, Island Conservation, said it was the first time that giant tortoises have walked on Floreana since the native species, Chelonoidis niger niger, was driven to extinction there in the mid-1800s after the introduction of invasive mammals.

Pela primeira vez em quase 150 anos de história, o Zoológico de Filadélfia comemorou o nascimento de filhotes de tartaruga das Galápagos. A protagonista desse feito é Mommy, uma fêmea centenária da espécie Chelonoidis niger, que, junto com o macho Abrazzo, também com cerca de 100 anos, gerou uma ninhada inédita: quatro filhotes fêmeas que nasceram em 27 de fevereiro de 2025. O nascimento não…