Isabela Island Giant Tortoise

About the Isabela Island Giant Tortoise

Chelonoidis niger vicina, commonly known as the Cerro Azul giant tortoise, Iguana Cove tortoise or the Isabela Island giant tortoise, is a subspecies of Galápagos tortoise endemic to Isabela Island in the Galápagos. This population was depleted by seamen in the last 200 years and by extensive slaughter in the late 1950s and 1960s by employees of cattle companies based at Iguana Cove. Their population is thought to overlap with Chelonoidis niger guentheri.

A 2023 population study conducted by the Galápagos Conservancy estimated the subspecies' population to be around 5275 individuals. This would make it the third most populous subspecies., behind C. vandenburghi and C. chathamensis.

It has a thick, heavy shell intermediate between saddle-backed and domed, and not appreciably narrowed anteriorly. Males are larger and more saddle-backed; females are more domed. Until eradication programs, virtually all nests and hatchlings were destroyed by black rats, pigs, dogs, and cats.

Günther, 1875 : Descriptions of the living and extinct races of gigantic land–tortoises. Parts I and II. Introduction, and the tortoises... Wikipedia →