The Daily Mail reports that a 100-year-old Galapagos tortoise named Diego produced about 800 offspring in his long life, which saved his species from extinction. It has been noted that in the Galápagos Islands, there are almost no Hood Island Giant tortoises, and if not for Diego, rising to fame for his love for reproducing, us humans would have lost this species forever.
The Hood Island giant tortoise was recognized as a separate biological species, and the case of Diego loving to reproduce was accidentally found in the San Diego Zoo. As these tortoises were near extinction, biologists decided to hand Diego the task of preserving this almost extinct species. Diego went above and beyond, by producing 800 offspring and revving his species.
There is a program to save the Hood Island giant tortoises, and as part of this program, 2,000 new tortoises were released to the island. The best part is out of the 2,000 released creatures, 40% are Diego’s children, and in the natural world, these numbers are immense.
