Lonesome George. Credit: Galapagos National Park Service <\/p>\n
GALAPAGOS ISLANDS, Ecuador, June 28 (UPI) -- Lonesome George, the giant Galapagos tortoise who died on Sunday as the last of his species, will be embalmed and put on display, officials in Ecuador say. <\/p>\n
The Pinta Island tortoise will be on display on Santa Cruz Island for future generations to see, Environment Minister Marcela Aguinaga said. <\/p>\n
A necropsy determined Lonesome George, estimated at 100 years old, died of old age, she said. <\/p>\n
As the only known living example of his subspecies, Chelonoidis nigra abingdoni, Lonesome George was considered the rarest creature in the world. <\/p>\n
Efforts to get the Pinta Island tortoise to reproduce with females from a similar subspecies on the Galapagos Islands all met with failure, the BBC reported. <\/p>\n
Lonesome George had become a symbol of the Galapagos. An estimated 180,000 people annually visit the islands where Charles Darwin began to formulate his theories on evolution. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Visit link: <\/p>\n
Tortoise Lonesome George to be embalmed<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Lonesome George. Credit: Galapagos National Park Service GALAPAGOS ISLANDS, Ecuador, June 28 (UPI) -- Lonesome George, the giant Galapagos tortoise who died on Sunday as the last of his species, will be embalmed and put on display, officials in Ecuador say Continue reading