Tailor Made Holidays in The Galapagos Islands: In the News

Lonesome George could become a father at last: 23-07-2008

The world's rarest creature could be set to become a father.

Lonesome George is the last surviving Pinta tortoise after fishermen and pirates hunted the species to extinction.

He was rescued from the island of Pinta in the Galapagos in 1972 and has since been an icon for conservation at Galapagos National Park.

But after years of sexual indifference, rangers at the park have found a clutch of eggs in the enclosure he shares with two female companions.

"There have been rumours of him mounting females, but nobody has ever witnessed penetration by George," said Lonesome George expert Henry Nichols.

Experts are hoping that the eggs are fertilised but doubts will remain for 120 days when it can be confirmed.

Tortoise can lay unfertilised eggs in the same way that chickens do.

Yale University professor of ecology Jeff Powell, who has worked on giant tortoises in the Galapagos said: "This is great news. The females have been with George for a long time, so if the eggs are fertilised, they will surely be his offspring."

Three of the eggs have been placed in an incubator and if they do hatch, conservationists hope to re-establish the species in the wild of Pinta.