Lonesome George is a
tortoise, the last known individual of the Pinta Island tortoise (Chelonoidis nigra abingdoni), which is one of eight to fifteen extant subspecies of Galápagos tortoise, all of which are native to the Galápagos Islands.
He has been labeled the rarest creature in the world, and he is a potent symbol for conservation efforts in the Galápagos and conservation efforts internationally. It is thought that he was named after a character played by American actor George Gobel.
George was first seen on the island of Pinta on 1 December 1971 by Hungarian malacologist József Vágvölgyi. The island's vegetation had been devastated by introduced feral goats, and the indigenous C. n. abingdoni population had been reduced to a single individual. Relocated for his safety to the Charles Darwin Research Station, George was penned with two females of a different subspecies, and although eggs have been produced, none have hatched.
In 2009, another male tortoise by the name of Tony, who currently resides in a Prague zoo, was discovered as most likely being an additional pure breed, native, Pinta tortoise. Believed to be born around 1960, Tony has been housed in the zoo since 1972. Peter Pritchard, one of the world’s foremost authorities on Galápagos tortoises (and of tortoises and turtles in the world, more generally), has found the shell on Tony to be extremely similar to that of George and Pinta museum specimens. Research is still currently being processed to confirm this match, and Tony is still being cared for at the Prague zoo.