My photo of Lonesome George was a bit less than perfect, and I can't blame it on him moving, so here's one (on the right) I borrowed from the web- site of the Darwin Centre on Santa Cruz where he stays. We all went along and bought a tee-shirt to support him.

Sadly I hear the latest attempt to preserve George's Pinta lineage has failed, he seems to be firing blanks despite the attentions of various species.

The rest of the Tortoises went on dozing or munching, or getting wedged into corners like those rather dim robot things your kids want for the impending Christmas. I suppose it's not really their fault since they are in an enclosure and would probably want to roam a bit more.

The tortoises that is, not the kids.

Here's Jo, below, demonstrating the size of the larger ones. I was thinking of taking a picture of Tortoise Poo for your edification, but you will be pleased to note that I decided against it. It's about the size of one of the little ones above, perhaps 5" by 4" and judging by the numbers, the tortoises were getting through a fair bit of vegetation.

Tortoise

The one above was showing signs of excitement however and I had to move a bit to get him (her?) in shot, they can move faster than you'd expect if they spot a lettuce or whatever.

I suppose the larger ones think of us as high-speed squeaky blurs who stop occasionally and click a lot.

There's a captive breeding programme at the Darwin Centre to bring up the numbers of the more critically endangered. The little ones on the right here are signs of success in this venture, though they'll have some growing to do before they reach the size of this one below, seen at a sort of visitor centre in the highlands of Santa Cruz where there were dozens, not exactly wild, but certainly free range.