UPSC Articles
Diego, the giant tortoise
Part of: GS Prelims –Environment and GS-III- Conservation
In news:
The Galapagos National Park, where Diego lived, called off the captive breeding programme.
Do you Know ?
- Tortoises on the Galápagos Islands served as excellent source of food for seafarers in the 1800s.
- They could survive inside ships for upto a year, and so a large number were picked up from the islands.
From Prelims point of view:
Galapagos National Park
- Established in 1959 is Ecuador’s first national park and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
- In 1979 UNESCO declared the Galápagos Islands Natural Heritage for Humanity
Diego Turtle
- Classified as “threatened” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature
- A member of the Chelonoidis hoodensis, or the giant tortoise species, Diego has spent much of his long life — he is 100 years old — in saving his kind
