The Diego tortoise is back on its home island of Española. - Galapagos National Park / AP / SIPA

The return, originally scheduled for March, has been delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Diego, the giant tortoise that saved his species from extinction, has finally regained freedom on its original island in the Galapagos archipelago. "We are closing an important chapter in the management of the Galapagos Park, 15 turtles from Española, including Diego, are returning home after decades spent breeding in captivity to save their species from extinction," tweeted on Monday Ecuadorian Minister of the Environment, Paulo Proaño.

Cerramos an important capítulo in the management of @parquegalapagos, 15 tortugas de # Española, incluyendo a #Diego, regresan a casa tras décadas de reproducirse en cautiverio y salvar a suecie de la extinción. Su isla las recibe con los brazos abiertos. (Noticia en desarrollo) pic.twitter.com/M4a4maQm9E

- Paulo Proaño Andrade (@PauloProanoA) June 15, 2020

Accompanied by fourteen other breeding adults, Diego, a centenary male of the species Chelonoidis hoodensis , was repatriated to the deserted island of Española by employees of the Galapagos National Park (PNG). The animals were transported by boat from the island of Santa Cruz, where Diego spent 40 years in captivity as part of a breeding program.

Diego, hero of his kind

Diego, who weighs 80 kg and measures 1.5 meters, had been taken to the United States in the first half of the 20th century. He notably spent thirty years at the zoo in San Diego (California) which gave him his name. He was then repatriated in 1976 to the Galapagos Islands where he shared his daily life with several females in a PNG tortoise breeding center in Puerto Ayora, the capital of the island Santa Cruz.

Sexually very active, Diego managed to save his species from the danger of extinction by single-handedly generating at least 40% of the baby turtles that have since grown up on Española Island. It now has about 2,000 individuals of this species, including 200 born in the wild.

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  • Animals
  • Threatened species
  • Tortoise
  • Planet
  • Galapagos