Our afternoon excursion took us to the Tortoise Breeding Center on San Cristobal island. It was a long bus ride into the highlands for a not too interesting visit, but the work they are doing here is admirable. And it was our first glimpse of the giant tortoises.
The breeding program is designed to replenish and enhance the current population of tortoises across the Galapagos. There are numerous species of tortoise with different islands having different animals specifically evolved for life on that island. This is one of a few different programs studying the tortoises and working to get their populations back up to normal on a variety of islands.
They stay in captivity from birth until about 15 years when they should then be able to fend for themselves in the wild.
This guy just seemed to model for the camera. As with other areas of Galapagos, the tortoises have no fear of humans and aren't bothered by us at all. Of course, we're all also under very strict instructions not to be too loud, get too close or touch them in the hopes that things will stay as they are.
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