Just as a loggerhead turtle swam to shore at Ġnejna Bay last week, in the first turtle nesting in about 52 years, another creature believed to be the last of its species has died – Lonesome George.

The animal, believed to be about 100 years old was believed to be the last of its kind, and for decades environmentalists unsuccessfully tried to get the Pinta Island tortoise to reproduce with females from a similar subspecies on the Galapagos Islands.

Park officials said the tortoise was found dead in his corral by his keeper of 40 years. Although Lonesome George was a centenarian, he was only a young adult as his subspecies can live up to the age of 200.

Lonesome George was first seen by a Hungarian scientist on the Galapagos island of Pinta in 1972. After 15 years of living with a female tortoise from the nearby Wolf volcano, Lonesome George did mate, but the eggs were infertile.

He also shared his corral with female tortoises from Espanola island, which are genetically closer to him than those from Wolf volcano, but Lonesome George failed to mate with them.

Galapagos National Park officials said that with George’s death, the Pinta tortoise subspecies has become extinct. They said his body would probably be embalmed to conserve him for future generations. Tortoises were plentiful on the Galapagos islands until the late 19th century, but were later hunted for their meat by sailors and fishermen to the point of extinction.

The whole of Malta expressed joy last week when the loggerhead turtle came up to lay her eggs. Loggerheads return to the beach they were born on to nest. The last recorded nesting was in 1960, but the female was caught and killed while the eggs were also taken. This means that the turtle which actually came ashore was probably older than 50. Everyone has taken the matter seriously. Experts dug up the eggs which had been laid and put them in a safer spot. Meanwhile, volunteers are keeping a watch on the 79 precious eggs. Sadly, all the good work was put in danger when a person hired specifically to keep watch on the site, allegedly got drunk and drove his car onto the beach.

The issue here is the sensitivity of breeding and the need for us Maltese to recognise that this is an event which (to our knowledge) has not taken place for decades. We rightly take pride in our turtle rehabilitation centre in Marsaxlokk, but this is a much bigger issue. Prevention rather than cure, is always better. In allowing this rare species to propagate, we might stave off extinction of the species for a while longer. After years of ignorance and greed, we are finally waking up to the fact that it is in our interest to protect the environment and the species which fill it. Sadly though, fools still abound.