Meet George, a rare tortoise species which is also the very last of its kind, and destined for extinction.There is no birth certificate for George so the estimates of his age vary wildly - from 80 to 200 - but we do at least know he is a 5ft-long (1.5 meter) giant, weighing 200lb (90.7 kg).
Not just any old tortoise, though. George was the very last of his kind - officially, the rarest creature on Earth according to The Guinness Book Of Records.
Although scientists had spent long decades scouring the island of the Galapagos archipelago on which he had been found for another of his saddle-backed species, they had unearthed only tortoise shells and skeletons.
For a tortoise in his hundreds, he should be in his sexual prime. Yet George has steadfastly refused to mate. This has not been for the want of trying.
Females from a different giant tortoise species were put into his enclosure but he showed no interest, even when the number of females were increased to orgiastic proportions.
Link & Image: This Is London
Tags: Tortoise | Extinction
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