Lonesome George is back. The rarest animal in the world, and by far the most famous tortoise, died in 2012. Now experts have preserved him for display – right down to the missing toenail on his left front foot.
George was one of 14 subspecies of giant tortoise (Chelonoidis nigra) that once lived on the Galapagos Islands. George lived on Pinta island, but the introduction of goats wiped out all his fellows, and when he was found in 1972, he was the last of his kind.
