In the 1840s, whalers systematically removed thousands of giant tortoises from Floreana Island in the Galápagos — loading them onto ships as living larders, a slow-moving source of fresh meat for months-long hunting voyages. By the middle of the 19th century, the Floreana giant tortoise (Chelonoidis niger niger) had vanished from its ancestral home entirely.
One hundred and eighty years later, they are back.
The Return
In February 2026, 158 juvenile tortoises — genetically descended from the Floreana subspecies through a remarkable "back breeding" programme — were released onto Floreana Island in what conservationists are calling the largest ecological restoration project ever undertaken in the Galápagos.
The tortoises are young, ranging from knee-height to the size of a dinner plate, their domed and saddleback shells already suggesting the Floreana lineage. All are fitted with lightweight GPS transmitters so scientists can track their movements and survival. Over time, as they grow and breed, they will resume their ancestral role as the island's ecosystem engineers.
A Discovery That Made It Possible
The story of how this happened is almost as remarkable as the reintroduction itself.
In 2008, researchers studying a different tortoise population on Wolf Volcano — on Isabela Island, far to the north — noticed something unusual. Among the predominantly dome-shelled tortoises, some individuals had a saddleback carapace shape typical of Floreana tortoises. Genetic analysis confirmed it: a relic population on Wolf Volcano carried significant Floreana ancestry, likely descended from tortoises deposited there by the same whalers who had cleared Floreana, or from animals tossed overboard during storms.
In 2017, scientists selected 23 of the hybrid tortoises most closely related to the original Floreana subspecies and began a captive back-breeding programme. By 2025, more than 600 hatchlings had been born. Several hundred grew large enough to make the journey home.
Ecosystem Engineers
Giant tortoises are not simply large, slow animals. They are what ecologists call "ecosystem engineers" — species whose activities fundamentally shape the environments they inhabit.
As they graze, trample, and move through vegetation, they create and maintain open habitats. As they eat fruit and move across the island, they disperse seeds across distances that few other animals can match. Their centuries-long absence from Floreana has left the island's ecology noticeably diminished.
The reintroduction is part of a broader Floreana Ecological Restoration Project, which includes the eradication of invasive mammals — rats and feral cats — that decimated the island's native wildlife. The project aims to eventually return 13 native species to Floreana, including the Floreana mockingbird, which has survived only on two tiny offshore islets since the 19th century.
A Model for What's Possible
The project is a collaboration between Ecuador's Galápagos National Park Directorate, the Charles Darwin Foundation, Island Conservation, the Galápagos Conservancy, and several other partners. It represents one of the most comprehensive island restoration efforts in history — and perhaps the most emotionally resonant.
"Giant tortoises, the life-giving engineers of remote small island ecosystems, are plodding over the Galápagos island of Floreana for the first time in more than 180 years," The Guardian reported at the time of the release.
There is something profoundly moving about that image: ancient, unhurried animals, navigating terrain their ancestors shaped, beginning again.
Sources: The Guardian, February 20, 2026 · Charles Darwin Foundation · Galápagos Conservancy · Galápagos National Park Directorate · Smithsonian Magazine
