Wild Galapagos tortoise on Santa Cruz Island, having a little breakfast.
Wild Galapagos tortoises, also on Santa Cruz, hanging out at a mud puddle. The mud keeps them cool and helps keep bugs off.
Tortoise in captivity in the Charles Darwin Research Station on Santa Cruz. All the adult tortoises here (I think all of them, but definitely the one in this picture) had been kept in captivity by private individuals before the Research Station was started, and they were brought here for conservation purposes. This tortoise is probably around 60 or 70 years old, according to our guide.
Baby tortoises at the Darwin Station. All wild tortoise nests in Galapagos are located and the eggs are brought to the Station for incubation. The babies live here until they are about 5 years old, at which point their shells are hard enough that they are safe from predators and can be re-released into the wild.
All the little guys have big yellow numbers painted on their backs so the staff can keep track of them, and it's hard to get a picture without the numbers being visible. These two cooperated for me by hiding under a rock and looking cute, which I really appreciated.
2 comments:
Beth, your pictures are amazing! You got some incredible shots! The tortoises are pretty cool but I could really use some penguins!!!
Thanks! The animals were so close that it was easy to get great shots. I do have some more penguin pictures. Let me see if I can pull a few together for you!
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