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Lonesome George Is Dead, Long Live The Giant Galapagos Tortoise!

LE TEMPS (Switzerland)

Worldcrunch

PUERTO BAQUERIZO MORENO – The famous giant tortoise of the Galapagos is saved! At least for now...

It was thought that the ancient Galapagos tortoise endemic to these South American islands had gone extinct with last year's death of Lonesome George, the last of the living among this type of tortoise, writes Le Temps. But another species of Galapagos tortoises, living on one of the seven islands of the archipelago, is apparently thriving.

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The Galapagos Islands, Wikipedia

Lonesome George, who died June 2012 was thought to be the last remaining member of the Galapagos tortoise species, but his cousins from the neighboring isle of Espanola seems to be doing quite well, even though their number had dropped down to 14 in the 1960s, two males and 12 females.

Galapagos tortoises can measure up to 51 inches and weigh 500 pounds. In past centuries, they were a delicacy favored by pirates and whalers.

In 1977, a male tortoise in its prime – about 100 years old; these reptiles live up to be 175 – was reintroduced into the Espanola island. He had been brought there from the San Diego Zoo, where he was living out his retirement.

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Geochelone elephantosus, the Galapagos giant tortoise, Wikipedia

The Espanola tortoises were taken from the island and transported to the main Galapagos Island, Santa Cruz, wher they were being bred in captivity in the Charles Darwin Research Center. The program was hugely successful and all together, 1700 tortoises were brought back to Espanola, which in turn started breeding in the wild.

“It’s a beautiful victory to have been able to recreate a population from such a small community,” claims Lukas Keller, biologist and Galapagos exhibition curator at Zurich’s Zoological museum. But, well they are all pretty much inbred, which makes them quite vulnerable, he says.

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Society

Tales From A Blushing Nation: Exploring India's 'Issues' With Love And Sex

Why is it that this nation of a billion-plus has such problems with intimacy and romance?

Photo of Indian romance statues

Indian romance statues

Sreemanti Sengupta

KOLKATA — To a foreigner, India may seem to be a country obsessed with romance. What with the booming Bollywood film industry which tirelessly churns out tales of love and glory clothed in brilliant dance and action sequences, a history etched with ideal romantics like Laila-Majnu or the fact that the Taj Mahal has immortalised the love between king Shahjahan and queen Mumtaz.

It is difficult to fathom how this country with a billion-plus population routinely gets red in the face at the slightest hint or mention of sex.

It therefore may have come as a shock to many when the ‘couple-friendly’ hospitality brand OYO announced that they are “extremely humbled to share that we observed a record 90.57% increase in Valentine’s Day bookings across India.”

What does that say about India’s romantic culture?

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