Sad news today as Lonesome George the giant tortoise passes away, making another sub-species extinct. I got distracted looking at photos of him earlier, so drew a couple of pictures of his adorable sad old-man face.
Lonesome George, as the name suggests, was all alone on Pinta Island in the Galapagos. Not only alone on his island but also alone in all of the whole world, he was the last surviving known tortoise of his kind. Lonely indeed. Scientists had spent a lot of time trying to get him to breed with other similar sub-species, but with no success. So now, at an estimated age of 100 years (young for tortoises of Pinta Island!), his gene line has come to an end.
To see Lonesome George in all his glory, here is a video of Simon Reeve visiting him a few years ago: