Giant Tortoises Return to Rebuild a Lost Island Ecosystem

Giant tortoises have returned to Floreana Island in Ecuador after 180 years, marking a major step in restoring one of the Galápagos’ most heavily altered ecosystems.

“For generations, Floreana existed without its giant tortoises,” said Verónica Mora, community representative from Floreana Island. “Their return shows what is possible when a community leads, and many partners come together with a shared purpose.”

Ecuador’s Floreana Island, a 67-square-mile landmass long considered the most ecologically devastated of the 13 main Galápagos Islands, lost its giant tortoise population to hunting by pirates and whalers centuries ago. The released tortoises, each roughly the size of a basketball, will act as ecosystem engineers, clearing brush, creating mud baths, and dispersing seeds, making the island habitable again for 12 additional species, including mockingbirds, racer snakes, finches, and hawks. Their return was made possible by decades of captive breeding and the eradication of invasive rats, cats, goats, and pigs, completed by 2023. Galápagos giant tortoise numbers have already rebounded from a low of 3,000 in the 1970s to between 25,000 and 35,000 today. Hundreds more juvenile tortoises are set to follow, with the current cohort expected to reach full maturity within 15 years.