Eight Galapagos tortoises poached

This Tuesday, Galapagos National Park officials announced that eight giant tortoises were found killed by poachers. There are only 7,000 giant tortoises left, so this is quite a blow. Even worse, some of those found dead had been painstakingly hatched from artificially incubated eggs and raised for seven years by scientists before being released into their natural habitat ...only to be slaughtered eight years later by poachers.

A tragedy, yes, but also a call to arms for local educators. Only someone who doesn't understand the value of the Galapagos flora and fauna to science and history--not to mention the Galapagos economy--would commit such an act simply to sell a few hunks of bush meat on the black market.

This just goes to show that the Galapagos Archipelago really is a "World Heritage Site In Danger" and may even lose its UNESCO World Heritage Site status as a result.

Want to help? Why not link over to the Galapagos Conservation Trust and find out how.