Ageing alone

The last of his kind -
so long alone, another
thirty years to go.

Lonesome George is the last known individual of the Pinta Island Tortoise, one of 13 subspecies of Galápagos tortoise native to the Galápagos Islands. George is around 70 years old and can be expected to live another 30 to 70 years, probably all alone, though there are indications that there may still be another tortoise of the same subspecies or closely enough related, somewhere in the island chain. Galapagos tortoises were hunted by whalers and pirates during the 18th and 19th centuries. Non-native species such as goats introduced on some of the islands destroyed the vegetation that the tortoises eat. These factors have contributed to the reduction in numbers.

Crafted by Crafty Green Poet