In yet another distressing incident ofendangered species trafficking , 123 immature giant tortoises have been slip from a breeding facility in the Galápagos Islands .
" They were all taken at once , 123 in all . It was a robbery , " Washington Paredes , a local pol , told AFP.“The turtles are just there . If somebody wants to go in by nighttime and steal , they can , ” he added , explaining that the Isla Isabella chemical compound does not have many security mensuration . The volcanic island of the Galápagos archipelago , 906 klick ( 563 miles ) off the seashore of Ecuador , are plate to many endemic organisms , includingseveral coinage – or subspecies , depend on who you call for – of the iconic giant tortoise . Of the estimated 15 morphologically trenchant types of Galápagos hulk tortoise exist when humans first arrived on the island in the late sixteenth hundred , four character are considered out and the rest range from endanger to critically endangered . According tothe Telegraph , the escape youngsters belonged to theChelonoidis vicinaandChelonoidis guntherivarieties . C. guntherialso advert to as the Sierra Negra tortoise , are discover on Isla Isabela near the Sierra Negra Volcano . C. vicina , conversationally known as the Iguana Cove tortoise , occurs on the same island , mostly near the Cerro Azul vent . Due to the two tortoise ' overlapping range , many researchers have evoke grouping theminto one species;yet , like other matters of Galapagan tortoise taxonomy , this is up for considerable debate .
irrespective of their precise scientific denomination , all of the archipelago ’s giant tortoises are remarkable specimen due to their impressive adaptations . Chelonoidisare the big living turtles , growing up to 1.87 metre ( 6 feet ) and385 kilograms ( 849 pounds)during their 170 - plus - twelvemonth life-time . Thanks to this enormous domed body plan , the tortoises have room for healthy internal water depot and fat deposition , which , combined with their tedious reptilian metamorphosis , let them to go for as long as a full twelvemonth without resources .
Sadly , these traits are what get the tortoise to be hunt to near - eradication . When explorers , pirate , and whalers began using the Galápagos islands as a layover base , they soon realized that the native tortoise made for fantabulous – and according to historic account , very tasty – long - term food storehouse . The slow - moving and defenceless creature ( they have no instinctive predator once they reach adulthood ) were overcharge from the islandsin the hundred of thousandsand carried , hold up , onboard ships until their meat and internal fluid were required .
Widespread habitat destruction and the introduction of non - aboriginal species have also taken their toll , and scientist believe that the pre - human full population of about 250,000 was driven down to 3,000 by the 1970s . Strict security mix with breeding programs like the one on Isla Isabella have helped the species resile to around 20,000 individual .
An probe into this calendar week ’s theft has been lead up , grant to AFP . The perpetrators could confront up to 10 year in prison if take in . In lift up word , earlier this twelvemonth , 26 adults tortoise that had been taken from one of the island and smuggle into Peruwere returnedunharmed .
