Giant Land Tortoise

During our second visit to Santa Cruz Island in the Galapagos, we had the chance to see Giant Land Tortoises in the wild on Rancho Primicias.

These guys can weigh over 800 pounds each, and live over 100 years.

It was estimated that there were once 250,000 on the islands, but due to hunting by man, those numbers have declined drastically.

Breeding programs are in full effect to help save these amazing creatures, and they now number about 19,000 (Wikipedia).

Last Updated on October 2nd, 2011