Scientists and rangers have reintroduced about 150 giant tortoises to Floreana Island in the Galapagos archipelago, Ecuador's Environment Ministry announced Friday. They disappeared more than a century ago.

Published on: 02/21/2026 - 06:31 Modified on: 02/21/2026 - 10:26

There are more than 150 of them. These giant tortoises have set foot on Floreana Island, in the Galapagos archipelago, for the first time in a century.

The rangers traveled seven kilometers with the 158 reptiles loaded in crates on their backs, crossing "volcanic terrains and difficult-to-access areas to transport the turtles to their release point, ensuring their good adaptation to the natural environment," Ecuador's Environment Ministry said.

The released turtles come from a breeding center in the Galapagos National Park, where a specialized program has been developed using turtles found on Isabela Island, but which have a genetic profile very close to the endemic Floreana species, the ministry explained.

Each animal was subjected to an extended quarantine and microchipped for identification before being taken to the island of Floreana.

Charles Darwin's study area

The Galapagos archipelago, 1,000 kilometers off the coast of Ecuador, has unique flora and fauna in the world. Its fragile ecosystem is part of humanity's world heritage and served as a study site for the British naturalist Charles Darwin who theorized the evolution of species in the 19th century.

“For the first time in more than a century, Floreana once again welcomes giant tortoises, a species that plays a strategic role as ecosystem engineers: they disperse seeds, regulate vegetation and promote the regeneration of the natural habitat,” said the ministry.

With this operation, Floreana, 173 km², “establishes itself as a world reference in terms of complete restoration of an inhabited island”, he adds.

Turtles but also birds, for a decade researchers have been working on the reintroduction of 12 other endemic species on Floreana, the first Galapagos island to have been inhabited by humans.

In 2023, the government opened a biodiversity laboratory on the island for the study and monitoring of species, before carrying out an operation to reintroduction of finches, owls and other turtles.

The same year, Ecuador obtained the reduction of approximately one billion dollars in its external commercial debt, in return for the allocation of 450 million dollars for the conservation of the Galapagos.

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With AFP

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