Lonesome George was the last remaining Galapagos land tortoise from the island Pinta. Due to the isolation of the islands in Galapagos, many different species and subspecies have evolved on most major islands over time.
For thousands of years the tortoises had no natural predators, causing them to evolve into the enormous size we see today.
Unfortunately their safety was heavily compromised when humans started coming to the Galapagos Islands. First pirates and later whalers found out that tortoises were ideal to serve as food source on their long ocean voyages. They were easy to catch, contained lots of meat and could be kept, without having to give them water, for months on end. The whalers often kept them upside down and parts were cut off while the animals were still alive. Not only was this a horrible act for the animals involved, one you could compare to shark finning, the vast numbers of tortoises that were taken from the islands also put great stress on the various populations.
In about a century's time, so many tortoises were slaughtered that some of the populations became extinct (Floreana genus) and others seriously endangered. Read the full report here.
Source: Sea Shepherd.
