This yr, on April 22, we’ll have fun Earth Day, the annual acknowledgement of the significance of respecting and defending our planet’s pure ecosystems and the animals who inhabit them. This yr’s Earth Day theme, in actual fact, is Defend Our Species, which places a particular give attention to how people can work together with wildlife in probably the most accountable, sustainable method. It is a worth that G Adventures shares, most pointedly with our Jane Goodall Assortment of excursions, which goals to exhibit how wildlife-focused journey can construct a better respect for the unbelievable animals who share this planet with us.
For the following 4 weeks, we’ll be presenting a mini sequence of weblog posts referred to as Meet Your Neighbours, through which we’ll introduce you to among the unbelievable animals you may encounter on our Jane Goodall Assortment excursions. Right now: meet the large Galapagos sea tortoise.
I’m: Chelonoidis nigra, also called the Galapagos sea tortoise or the Galapagos big tortoise. The truth is, the Galapagos Islands get their names from these large reptiles: in Outdated Spanish, the phrase galapago means tortoise.
I dwell: On the Galapagos Islands (clearly)! Galapagos tortoises have doubtless lived on the Ecuadorean islands for one thing between six and 12 million years, having migrated — or, type of, floated (extra on that later) — there as kin a now-distantly associated species mainland South America. Big sea tortoises are poor swimmers, which means that they’d have made the greater than 1,000-kilometre journey partly by being carried by sea currents — and, fortunately, tortoises can dwell for a very long time with out meals and water.
I eat: Nearly something that’s inexperienced! Galapagos tortoises are herbivores, which implies they eat solely vegetation. On the islands, this consists of grass, tree bark, and even cacti. By means of this weight loss plan — of roughage alone — I can weigh as much as 400 kilograms!
I want: To proceed interacting with species which are native to the Galapagos islands. The best threats to the continued existence of the Galapagos big tortoise are predation by canine, and competitors for meals from livestock comparable to cattle.
You may get to satisfy — which is to say, see within the wild — the Galapagos big tortoise on our Galapagos Island Hopping tour.
