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Download Lonesome George, the last remaining tortoise of his kind and a conservation icon, died on Sunday of unknown causes, the Galapagos National Park said. He was thought to be about 100 years old. Lonesome George was found in 1972 and had become a symbol of Ecuador's Galapagos Islands, which attracted some 180,000 visitors last year. "This morning the park ranger in charge of looking after the tortoises found Lonesome George. His body was motionless," the head of the Galapagos National Park, Edwin Naula, told Reuters. He lived at a tortoise breeding center on the archipelago's island of Santa Cruz. He was found Sunday morning in his pen by his longtime keeper, the park said in a statement. "The plight of Lonesome George provided a catalyst for an extraordinary effort by the government of Ecuador to restore not only tortoise populations throughout the archipelago but also improve the status of other endangered and threatened species," the park said. In honor of Lonesome George, it said it was convening an international workshop in July on management strategies for restoring tortoise populations over the next decade. "Lonesome George's legacy will be an increased effort in both research and management to restore all of the giant tortoise populations of Galapagos," it said. George was the last member of a species of giant tortoise from La Pinta, one of the smallest islands in the Galapagos, the park said. | 
