Rancho El Manzanillo Reserve is where can find many free range male Tortoises in the Santa Cruz highlands.
The Galapagos Giant Tortoise are the largest living species of Tortoise. Modern Galapagos Tortoises can weigh as much as 900 lbs. The Galapagos Tortoises have life spans in the wild of over 100 years. They are the longest-lived vertebrates. A captive individual once lived for 170 years.
Tortoise numbers have declined from over 250,000 in the 16th century to a low of around 3,000 in the 1970’s. This decline was caused by over exploitation for meat and oil, habitat clearance for agriculture, and introduction of non-native animals to the islands, such as rats, goats, and pigs. Adult Tortoises themselves have no natural predators. Conservation efforts, beginning in the 20th century, have resulted in thousands of captive-bred juveniles being released onto their ancestral home islands, with the total number is now estimated to exceeded 19,000. Despite this rebound, they are still classified as “vulnerable.”
