Week4 The Galapagos' Animals 1

Hello everyone.
In three weeks from now, I’m going to introduce unique animals which live in the Galapagos Islands.
Today, I will talk about Galapagos giant tortoise, Galapagos sea lion and Galapagos fur seal.


・The galapagos giant tortoise

Galapagos giant tortoise is the largest tortoises in the word. They are the large-sized tortoises which grow up to around 135 cm tall. They mainly eat grass and a cactus. They also eat fruit occasionally. Their natural enemy was not in the Galapagos Islands from the first. However, after the Galapagos Islands are discovered by Europeans in the 16th century, the number of Galapagos giant tortoise begins to decrease. The Galapagos giant tortoise became the suitable food of the people who do a long sea trip and the people who live there. They were overhunted for research or manufacture of turtle oil. Furthermore, the animals which humans took to the island also troubled the Galapagos giant tortoise. Eggs and child tortoises became the food of the pig or the dog. The grass which Galapagos giant tortoises eat as food had been eaten by the goat and cow. The number of the Galapagos giant tortoise which worried about extinction is increasing little by little temporarily by protection activities. Now, catching the Galapagos giant tortoise and carrying any living thing from outside are forbidden. Moreover, the trial that returns child tortoises born by breeding to wildness is also taken. However, the already extinct kind is also among the Galapagos giant tortoise family. It is important not to repeat such a fault.
In the Galapagos Islands, the subspecies of the giant tortoise evolved in every island. The Pinta giant tortoise was a subspecies of Galapagos giant tortoise lived in Ecuador's Pinta Island. In the past, the Pinta giant tortoise was considered to have been exterminated. However, the only male Pinta giant tortoise was discovered in early 1970s. But he didn’t mate. In the end, the Pinta giant tortoise became extinct in 2012.


・The galapagos sea lion

The Galapagos sea lion is one of the major animals in Galapagos. They inhabit all sands in Galapagos. We can see landing sea lions on the shore and swimming them by snorkeling or diving. In between September and December, a lovely baby sea lion will also be seen well. The Galapagos sea lion is related species of the California sea lion. It is thought that they had moved to the Galapagos Islands from the Northern Hemisphere in the past.

・The galapagos fur seal

The Galapagos fur seal is the minimum fur seal in the world. A male adult Galapagos fur seal also has only the weight of 65 kg and the height of 1.5 meters. They inhabit all sands in Galapagos. They are carnivores and they eat fish and cuttlefish. They sharply decreased by overhunt for research and exhibition in 20th century and for fur in 19th century.




Next week, I will talk about Galapagos’ animals, too.
The animal is Galapagos’ unique iguana.
Thank you for your reading. See you then.