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Pinta island tortoise adaptations8/17/2023 ![]() Tortoises that survived such destructive practices then faced new threats from a growing human population and tourist industry: increased agriculture, development of infrastructure and the introduction of domestic and invasive species such as goats, rats, pigs and fire ants. Only 10 of the original 15 species have survived. Having once lived on 10 islands, they now inhabit six. The Pinta Island tortoise (Chelonoidis niger abingdonii ), also known as the Pinta giant tortoise, Abingdon Island tortoise, or Abingdon Island giant tortoise, is an extinct subspecies of Galápagos tortoise native to Ecuadors Pinta Island. No-one knows the exact figures, but it is believed that well over 100,000 giant tortoises were removed from the Islands during this time. Settlers also introduced domestic animals, many of which became wild and, coupled with other invasive species, had a disastrous effect on population numbers. In 1958 goats were introduced to Pinta Island, eating much of the herbs and shrubs to the detriment of the natural habitat. Early settlers on the Islands hunted them for their meat and cleared large areas of their habitat for agriculture. Pinta is a shield volcano with numerous young cones and lava flows along NNW-trending fissures. The exploitation continued into the 1800s until early this century, when whaling ships and fur-sealers collected more tortoises for food and their fine ‘turtle-oil’. They could survive for several months without food or water and they provided invaluable fresh meat and sometimes even water from their bladders! In the 1600s, buccaneers who used the Islands as a base for repairing ships and restocking water, began to collect the tortoises to store live on board. ![]() ![]() The history of tortoises in Galapagos is a catastrophic tale. ![]()
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