Giant tortoises return to galápagos island after nearly 200 years of extinction through revolutionary back-breeding program

For the first time in over 180 years, giant tortoises are once again roaming the volcanic landscapes of Floreana Island in the Galápagos. The Floreana giant tortoise (Chelonoidis niger niger) has been successfully reintroduced to its native habitat through an innovative “back breeding” program, marking a remarkable conservation victory after the subspecies was completely wiped out in the 1840s.

The original Floreana tortoises fell victim to 19th-century whaling crews who harvested thousands of these gentle giants as a “living larder” for their long ocean voyages. The tortoises’ ability to survive months without food or water made them tragically ideal provisions for sailors, ultimately driving the entire subspecies to extinction by the mid-1800s.

Scientists achieved this conservation breakthrough by working with partial descendants of the original Floreana tortoises—individuals that carried genetic material from the extinct subspecies. Through careful selective breeding over multiple generations, researchers were able to “back breed” tortoises with increasingly higher percentages of Floreana genetics, essentially recreating a version of the lost subspecies.

This reintroduction represents far more than symbolic restoration. Giant tortoises serve as “ecosystem engineers” on small islands, playing crucial roles in seed dispersal, vegetation management, and habitat creation that countless other species depend upon. Their return to Floreana Island promises to restore ecological processes that have been absent for nearly two centuries, potentially revitalizing the entire island ecosystem and providing hope for similar de-extinction efforts worldwide.