In very good news for conservation efforts in the Galapagos, the Daily Mail reported this week that one of the archipelago’s most iconic species had passed a milestone.  The Galapagos Tortoise population in the islands has surpassed 1,000, a remarkable figure considering that its numbers had dwindled to just 15 individuals in the 1970s.

The species that fascinated and inspired Charles Darwin as he developed his theories of evolution was nearly brought to extinction by human predation and habitat degradation.  A captive breeding program has brought the Galapagos tortoise back from the brink, and they can now be found on the islands of Santa Cruz, Santiago, Pinzen and Espanola. (Photo © Charles J. Sharp).