In November 2009, a group of vets, working with the Galapagos National Park (GNP), prepared 39 hybrid tortoises that they hope will be the pioneer group to initiate the return of tortoises to Pinta Island. Project Pinta is a multi-year project aimed at the restoration of Lonesome George's native island following the successful eradication of goats on Pinta in 2003. It was made possible thanks to funding from a number of organisations including the Galapagos Conservation Trust and the US based Galapagos Conservancy.
While complete island restoration will require the eventual repopulation of Pinta with a reproductive tortoise population, scientists and managers are awaiting the final results from genetic analyses of a massive sampling of tortoises before making the final selection of which tortoises to use.
To initiate the return of tortoises, critical ecosystem engineers during this important period of recovery for the island's vegetation, this special group of tortoises will be released onto Pinta. To ensure that this group of hybrid tortoises will not compromise any future efforts to reestablish a reproductive population, the veterinariy team sterilised them and placed them in quarantine in preparation for their release.
