Lonesome George, last-of-his-kind Galapagos tortoise, dies

It's humbling to think of seeing an entire subspecies being wiped out by this one simple event.

I saw Lonesome George in person just last December - although at a fair distance (he wasn't particularly friendly to the tourists!)

On the same trip we saw a whole new hybrid species that had never been seen before - as confirmed by the scientists at the same place that George lived. The whole cycle of evolution is visible in a very small and isolated location.

- "Lonesome George, the last remaining tortoise of his kind." - "Some 20,000 giant tortoises still live on the Galapagos." That confused me a bit. My interpretation is that Lonesome George belonged to a species of giant tortoises that is not extinct, but there are still several other species of giant tortoises in the wild. Is that correct?

Poor George. It's a terrible thing that us humans have steeped this low.

This is a QI segment where they discuss the near extinction of tortoises:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tU3sZgh5xeM#t=8m42s

Its a bit strange to have an article about the last of a kind animal doesn't have a photo? :(

"[] often had to scramble with each other to take pictures of one of the rarest creatures on Earth."