How lonely was Lonesome George?

September 19, 2012 Erik Ernst Leave a Comment

Watch Lonesome George and the Battle for the Galapagos tonight at 7 on Wisconsin Public Television.

Lonesome George was one of the world’s most well-known tortoises. Living for many years as the last remaining Pinta Island giant tortoise in the rare and exotic wildlife of the Galapagos, George was also described as the world’s loneliest tortoise. You can follow the story of Lonesome George’s life and his death this past June — leaving his species instinct — in the fascinating BBC documentary airing tonight on WPT. (Watch a clip below.)

The program outlines the challenges faced by the world’s delicate ecosystems and the people working each day to ensure that other animals don’t end up at the end of their species line.

But, we wanted to take the opportunity to let everyone know that they don’t need to cry over George’s loneliness. In fact, while there might not have been any other tortoises around to keep him company — he had plenty of visitors. When this program was announced in a WPT schedule meeting awhile back, our Audience Services manager, Sarah, exclaimed, “I’ve met Lonesome George!” Sure enough, take a closer look at the picture above and you’ll see a bit of smile on the faces of Sarah and a not-so-lonely tortoise during a visit in 2004.

Clip from Lonesome George & the Battle for Galapagos from Jonathan Clay on Vimeo.

PBS Wisconsin Public Television Wisconsin Public Television Program Wisconsin Wildlife BBC Extinction