Diego, Father Of 800, Has Single-Handedly Saved His Species From Extinction

A giant tortoise named Diego has single handedly saved his own species from extinction by spending the last 50 years making more than 800 babies.

Of the 2,000 wild tortoises released onto Espanola, Diego has sired roughly 40%.

“I wouldn’t say [Diego’s species of tortoise] is in ideal health”, Tapia reportedly said to AFP. “He’s contributed enormously to repopulating the island”, Galapagos National Park tortoise preservation specialist Washington Tapia said in an interview with the AFP news agency.

Diego is a Chelonoidis hoodensis, a species found primarily in Espanola, an island in the Galapagos archipelago.

Living at the breeding centre on the Santa Cruz island, he is clearly having a ball at his harem of six females.

Diego weighs 80 kilograms (175 pounds), and stretches 90 centimetres (35 inches) long and 1.5 metres (5 feet) tall – when he really stretches – and is estimated to be well over 100 years old. Diego has so far fathered around 800 offspring.

Darwin’s theories of the survival of the fittest have been underlined by the libidinous Diego who has steered his species back from the brink. Diego was originally found at a California zoo, with scientists unsure of how he ended up there, and brought to the Galapagos in 1976.

The latest evidence of that is the exploits Diego the tortoise, who managed to save his entire species thanks to his romantic skills.

Though slow-moving in life, 100-year-old Diego apparently isn’t in the sack.

Sadly, the six female tortoises that Diego shares an enclosure with aren’t getting the same recognition as Diego. They found that nearly 40% of the babies found on Espanola are direct descendants from Diego. And he’s being credited with saving his species from extinction.

“I wouldn’t say (the species) is in ideal health, because historical records show there probably used to be more than 5,000 tortoises on the island”.

Tapia said the population is in pretty good shape and continues to grow.