Diego the Tortoise: Only 14 Were Left… Then One Old Tortoise Helped Save Them

In the 1960s, only 14 giant tortoises were left on one Galápagos island.

One more lived far away, in a zoo in California.

Could 15 old tortoises give their species a future?

This is the story of Diego.

Welcome to brightlivesenglish.com, where we teach real English using real-life stories.

Extinction. Extinction is when a type of animal dies out completely, and none are left anywhere.

Sailors and goats pushed the tortoises towards extinction.

Captivity. An animal in captivity lives in a zoo or another place made by people, not in the wild.

For decades, Diego lived in captivity in California.

Breeding. Breeding is when people keep animals together so that they have young.

Scientists started a breeding programme on another island.

Repatriate. To repatriate means to send someone back to the country or place they came from.

Young tortoises were repatriated to Española.

Descendant. Your descendants are your children, their children, and everyone after them in your family.

All the tortoises on Española are descendants of just 15.

Now, one pattern: on the brink of, plus a noun.

It means very close to something big, often something bad.

The species was very close to extinction.

The species was on the brink of extinction.

Ready? Let's begin.

Española is one of the oldest islands in the Galápagos, and it is very dry.

Thousands of giant tortoises once lived there.

Their shells curve up at the front like a saddle, so they can stretch their necks to reach cactus.

Hundreds of years ago, sailors and whalers took them onto their ships as food, because a tortoise can live for months without eating.

Later, goats ate the cactus.

Sailors and goats pushed the tortoises towards extinction.

In the 1930s, a scientific expedition took one male from Española to California.

At first, people called him Macho.

Later, his name became Diego.

For decades, Diego lived in captivity in California.

In the 1960s and early 1970s, scientists searched Española.

There were only 14 tortoises left: 12 females and 2 males.

They lived so far apart that they had stopped having young.

The species was on the brink of extinction.

Scientists started a breeding programme on another island, Santa Cruz.

They collected the eggs and kept them warm.

In 1971, the first young tortoises hatched there and survived.

But the programme needed more males.

Scientists looked in zoos for tortoises from Española.

One was living in San Diego: Diego.

In the 1970s, after more than 40 years away, he came back to the Galápagos.

Now there were 15.

Young tortoises were repatriated to Española.

It happened once or twice a year.

By the 1990s, the programme was on the brink of success.

In 1991, scientists saw a hatchling born in the wild.

In 2016, scientists shared a DNA study.

Diego was the father of about 40 per cent of the young tortoises: about 800 of them.

But a quieter male, known only by a number, was the father of most of the rest!

In 2019, a count showed that the island could look after its tortoises without help.

In January 2020, after more than 50 years, the breeding programme ended.

The species was no longer on the brink of extinction.

There was one last job: to take the 15 old tortoises home.

First, they waited in quarantine, so they would not carry seeds from Santa Cruz to Española.

Then, on 15 June 2020, the 15 tortoises were taken back to Española.

Diego was over 100 years old.

He had been away for more than 80 years.

Now, he was home.

Each of the 15 got a small satellite tracker on its shell.

Today, more than 2,000 tortoises live on Española.

All the tortoises on Española are descendants of just 15.

Fifteen old tortoises gave their species a future.

Let's review. Sailors and goats pushed the tortoises towards extinction.

For decades, Diego lived in captivity in California.

Scientists started a breeding programme on another island.

Young tortoises were repatriated to Española.

All the tortoises on Española are descendants of just 15.

And remember: the species was on the brink of extinction.

Diego's story teaches us: it's never too late, and one old tortoise from a faraway zoo can change the whole story.

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