Giant creatures make historic return to homeland after 175-year absence: 'I never thought this would happen'

Fifty giant tortoises walked onto Floreana Island in the Galápagos, the first of their kind to set foot there in 175 years, National Geographic reported.

In sweltering tropical heat one morning in late February, Galápagos National Park rangers hiked uphill with heavy plastic crates, some weighing close to 100 pounds. Inside each one: young hybrid tortoises bred from the genetic line of Floreana's original tortoise species, which disappeared from the island by 1850.

Those 50 animals were the first wave of 158 scheduled to arrive, pulled from a group of 720 raised at a facility on Santa Cruz Island over 15 years.

The tortoises are a genetic mix, with ancestry tracing to both the extinct Floreana species and the Wolf Volcano population on a neighboring island. Researchers traced that genetic link back to the 1800s, when whalers who had gathered Floreana tortoises accidentally scattered them near Wolf Volcano via shipwrecks and naval battles.

This release is one piece of a $15 million restoration project that has been in the works for more than a decade. Teams have spent years clearing out animals that early settlers and sailors introduced to Floreana, including goats, rats, and feral cats.

After the goats were eliminated in 2007, native species started bouncing back. The Galápagos rail, for example, reappeared on Floreana for the first time in about two centuries.

For the people who live on Floreana, the benefits are just as real: getting rid of rats has lifted crop yields by 80%. Tortoises are a big reason recovery can keep going. They spread seeds and carve trails through brush, which helps plants regrow and gives nesting birds more room.

"I never thought this would happen," said James Gibbs, a National Geographic Explorer and biologist who has spent four decades working in the Galápagos and helped trace the genetic origins of the hybrids.

Claudio Cruz, who has farmed on Floreana for decades, said that having tortoises back on the land makes everything feel whole again.

"When you look at a tortoise, into its eyes, they recognize you," he said. "They're smart. They want to communicate. Now we have that chance."

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