In the year 2000, Dr. James Gibbs and fellow researchers were conducting surveys on Wolf Volcano, the tallest peak in the Galápagos, when they noticed something unusual: tortoises with saddleback shells in a location where only dome-shelled tortoises should exist. DNA analysis revealed these animals carried genetic material from the Floreana giant tortoise, a species believed extinct for more than a century. Scientists believe whalers likely moved tortoises between islands generations ago, inadvertently preserving a lineage everyone thought was lost forever.
That discovery launched a decades-long breeding program at the Galápagos National Park breeding center on Santa Cruz Island. Researchers identified tortoises with the highest concentrations of Floreana DNA—between 40 and 80 percent—and carefully bred them across multiple generations to produce offspring carrying as much of the original genetic signature as possible. The juveniles were raised for 12 to 14 years until they reached a size large enough to defend themselves against introduced predators like rats and cats that still roam Floreana.
On February 20, conservation teams released 158 of these young tortoises onto Floreana Island during the rainy season, when fresh vegetation and water sources give them the best chance to establish themselves. The tortoises, aged 8 to 13 years, will not reach sexual maturity until around 25, meaning building a self-sustaining population will take patience measured in decades. Approximately 15 percent have been fitted with satellite tracking devices that will transmit data for two years, helping scientists monitor movement patterns, habitat use, and survival rates.
The tortoises' return is about far more than symbolism. As keystone species and ecosystem engineers, giant tortoises reshape their environment by dispersing seeds, grazing vegetation to prevent any single plant from dominating, trampling pathways that other species use, and cycling nutrients across the landscape. For 180 years, Floreana has functioned without its largest native herbivore—a gap that has affected everything from plant diversity to bird populations. Now, as tortoises begin moving across the volcanic terrain, they will gradually rebuild ecological processes that have been absent for nearly two centuries. This is the first release of a planned 700 tortoises. Future phases of the Floreana Island Ecological Restoration Project will reintroduce other extirpated species including the Floreana Mockingbird, Vegetarian Finch, and Floreana racer snake—all dependent on habitats that tortoises help create.