Tortoises

Galapagos National Park officials reported that eight eggs laid by two female companions of Galapagos tortoise Lonesome George are infertile. George, estimated to be 75 to 80 years old, is believed to be the last living member of Geochelone nigra abingdoni. The females belonged to a related species. The eggs were the first from any of George's mates in 36 years of effort by park rangers to produce an offspring.

The Army's National Training Center at Ft. Irwin on Friday suspended its effort to move California desert tortoises off prospective combat training grounds and onto nearby public lands because the animals are being hit hard by coyotes. The first phase of the $8.7-million translocation effort began in March, when about 670 tortoises were airlifted by helicopter out of the southern portion of the desert base northeast of Barstow to new homes in drought-stricken western Mojave Desert areas.

A volcano on the largest of the Galapagos Islands began erupting, and authorities were evaluating possible danger to plants and animals. Rangers and tour guides spotted lava flowing down the northeastern flank of the Cerro Azul volcano on the sea-horse-shaped island of Isabela. Park official Oscar Carvajal told Radio Quito that as many as four lava flows "have consumed a lot of vegetation" but did not pose a threat to the famed Galapagos tortoises. No people on the island were in danger.

As the sun rose over the Mojave Desert, researcher Kristina Drake approached with caution as a creature with weary eyes, a scuffed carapace and skin as rough as rhino hide peered at her from the edge of a dirt road just east of here. Wearing rubber gloves, Drake picked up the old female California desert tortoise and, in one fluid motion, moved her to safer ground beneath a nearby creosote bush. "It's one of ours," she said. "No. 4118."

A man accused of participating in an international smuggling ring that brought rare Asian tortoises into the United States was sentenced Tuesday to 6 1/2 months in federal prison. Wai Ho Gin was also ordered to spend another 6 1/2 months in home detention by U.S. District Judge J. Spencer Letts. Gin, 32, of Diamond Bar had pleaded guilty to smuggling and conspiracy charges in October. In his plea agreement, Gin admitted to working with Umesh Tekani, an alleged accomplice in Singapore, in smuggling the endangered radiated and Indian star tortoises worth more than $30,000.

The synonym for paradise is Galápagos. The definition is an archipelago of 15 islands and dozens of islets in the Pacific, straddling the Equator and belonging to Ecuador, 600 miles east. Never mind the 19th century visit of Charles Darwin and how he began formulating his theory of evolution here. Anyone who comes here will tell you that what really put this place on the map are the sheer wonders that occur when nature is allowed to thrive unspoiled.

An 18-year-old Ventura man was arrested Thursday on suspicion of animal cruelty and grand theft in the removal and torture of a 42-pound African spurred tortoise named "Bob." Jose "Tony" Mosqueda was arrested without incident after a search warrant was served in the 600 block of Cedar Street in Ventura, authorities said.

An 18-year-old local man was arrested Thursday on suspicion of animal cruelty and grand theft in the removal and torture of a 42-pound African spurred tortoise. Jose "Tony" Mosqueda was arrested without incident after a search warrant was served in the 600 block of Cedar Street in Ventura, authorities said.

Bob the Tortoise is still afraid to stick his head out of his damaged shell. And no wonder. The 42-pound African spurred tortoise is in guarded condition at a Montecito animal rehabilitation center after thieves tried to cut his neck and slice his legs from his shell. Ventura police and Humane Society officials on Friday offered rewards totaling $3,500 for the arrest and conviction of those responsible for stealing him from a Ventura backyard and mutilating him.