Lonesome George the giant tortoise caught peoples' attention when he was first brought
out of the wild and into captivity. People were sad that he was the only member of his species.
As a scientific community, we had hoped that
there was more time with him as we were thinking about other ways to try to get him to produce offspring.
He never really found much interest in the females that were brought in to be attractive to him.
He had a relationship with the individuals who took care of him over decades
in the tortoise breeding center on Santa Cruz, in the Galapagos.
And when he died in June of 2012, they were devastated.
The American Museum of Natural History was chosen by the Galapagos and by the government of
Ecuador to prepare this individual specimen because we're world-renowned in our taxidermy
and our ability to create amazing lifelike forms.
The difference between preparing a specimen such as Lonesome George, versus if we were
just preparing a Galapagos Tortoise, is that the world knew Lonesome George.
Not only does this need to be a scientifically accurate piece, but it also needs to be George.
Once I started creating the sculpture of George, I had the pose the way I wanted,
and there's that critical point where now I need the input from the scientific department.
With the skin, have you actually checked to see whether this neck length looks like it's correct now?
Yes.
As you're creating a piece that you're trying to make scientifically accurate, there's a
point where the artist takes over and you want to just create this grand piece, and
fix things, and make it a little bit flamboyant and add an extra hand of the artist in there.
The scientist has to hold back and keep in check what's completely accurate.
I think it's a struggle at times, but I think there's a point where the two come together
and just mesh perfectly.
He's really come out so well.
There's that real sense of movement.
I love these big giant legs you get at the back of these tortoises.
I mean, that's where all of the power and the weight is.
It's so important that we have the opportunity to conserve him,
so that people can experience him.
If you think about other species that have gone extinct, like the dodo, the fact that
there are no intact specimens anywhere--you know, whatever you see in a museum is an artificial recreation,
it's a model. But here we have the whole Lonesome George.
This is his shell, his skin. You feel like you're right now, you know,
standing right next to a living, live giant tortoise.
Unfortunately all of the giant tortoises in the Galapagos are at risk of extinction.
We used to consider them as all one or a couple of species, and now that we're more
aware that there are a number of species, we need to maintain them as separate species
and ensure that we manage them as distinct units into the future.
There used to be giant tortoises across the world, and now there are only two different
groups left, one of them in the Galapagos and the other one in Aldabra.
I actually think since Lonesome George touched so many lives
that it's critical for us to have a specimen that people can relate to.
I think he is an iconic representative of human use of resources right now in the world.
People can go and see this amazing organism that no longer walks the face of the earth
and reflect on what we can do better in the future.