Authorities Fear Galápagos Giants Tortoises Are Being Hunted And Eaten By People

The death of four Galápagos tortoises has actuate an investigation by Ecuadorian agency who suspect the patrician giants may have been poached for their meat .

A extra division specializing in crimes against the environs and wildlife has launched a preliminary probe into the so-called “ hunting and slaughter ” of the four giant tortoise found in the wetland complex of the Galápagos National Park , according to atweetfrom the State Attorney General ’s Office on Monday .

Galápagos Conservancysaid in a statement that the Provincial Attorney General of Ecuador believe the giant tortoise may have been hunted for their heart and soul .

The shameful tidings comes less than a year after the corpse of 15 slaughteredChelonoidis guntheritortoiseswere discoveredin a distant field of Sierra Negra Volcano in Galápagos National Park . Once again , it ’s suspected these elephantine tortoise were poach for their meat or shells .

There are currently 15 unlike mintage of giant tortoise in the Galapagos , most of which are face some threat of quenching , concord to theIUCN Red List .

WhenCharlies Darwincame to the Galápagos Islands in the 1830s anddrew inspirationfor his landmark book , On The Origin of Species , the number of gargantuan tortoise was high . However , over the class of the past 200 years , their number have continually dwindled .

The introduction of invasive species play a hard part in the tortoises ’ downslope , but a prize factor was poach by whalers and sailors visiting the island . These tardily - moving beasts were exceptionally light to hunt and , unfortunately for them , human train a huge appetence for their flesh .

It ’s no secret that Darwin and the crew of the HMS Beagleindulged themselveson jumbo tortoises , tossing their empty shells overboard as they made their voyage .

William Dampier , a 17th - century British plagiarist based on the Galápagos , reportedlysaid that the islands ' gargantuan tortoise were " extraordinarily big and fat , and so gratifying , that no pullet eat more pleasantly , " while Gallic Internet Explorer François Leguat said their substance " taste something like mutton . "

While population number of many Galápagos giant tortoises are on the rising slope thanks to conservation criterion , it reckon like some people have n’t learn from the reckless past .