Pinta Island

About the island

Pinta Island

Pinta lies in the far north of the main group of the Galápagos: a young shield volcano of about 60 square kilometers (23 square miles), with fresh lava flows and fissures on its slopes. Its Spanish name recalls the Pinta, one of the three ships of Columbus's first voyage, and its old English name, Abingdon, honors the Earl of Abingdon.

Pinta is famous as the home of Lonesome George, the last tortoise of the Pinta species. Whalers and fishermen took the island's tortoises for food, and goats released on the island in the 20th century destroyed much of its vegetation. George was found in 1971, moved the next year to the Charles Darwin Research Station on Santa Cruz, and died there in June 2012, the last of his kind. His preserved body is now on display on Santa Cruz.

Since then Pinta has become a symbol of restoration. The goats were eradicated, and the native vegetation recovered quickly. In 2010 the national park released 39 sterilized tortoises on the island to graze and spread seeds, as the original tortoises once did, and scientists have found tortoises with Pinta ancestry among the hybrids of Wolf Volcano, on Isabela, which may one day help bring Pinta tortoises back.

There are no visitor sites on Pinta, and landing is allowed only with a special permit from the Galápagos National Park, mainly for scientists and rangers. Galápagos hawks, Darwin's finches, marine iguanas, sea lions and fur seals live on and around the island, which is seen mostly from the sea, on the few routes that sail through the far north.

Fast facts

• Pinta was the home of Lonesome George, the last Pinta tortoise, who died in 2012.
• In 2010 the national park released 39 sterilized tortoises on Pinta to help restore its vegetation.
• There are no visitor sites on Pinta: landing needs a special permit from the national park.