GALAPAGOS ISLAND, Ecuador. – Lonesome George, the very last of a rare breed of giant tortoise, died over the weekend in the Galapagos Islands making his species now extinct.
Scientists believe George was more than 100 years old when he was found by his keeper Sunday at the Galapagos National Park in Ecuador, according to National Geographic.
The national park that housed George said park ranger, Fausto Llerena, had been "unhappily surprised" to discover his charge "stretched out in the direction of his watering hole with no signs of life," on Sunday morning.
George was the last remaining member of a subspecies of Pinta Island giant tortoises.
Lonesome was taken into captivity after his discovery in 1972 so he could be introduce to female tortoises of a closely related species, with hopes of a love connection.
Unfortunately for the survival of his species, Lonesome lived up to his name and never mated.
Click here to read the statement released by the Galapagos National Park.