Century-Old Tortoise Has Enough Sex to Save Entire Species

September 16, 2016

It seems like only yesterday that we last covered tortoise mating habits. (In fact, it was three weeks ago — we had a story about a tortoise named Touché who ran away from home and was found “mounting” a drain pipe cover.) But here we are again, in the brave, taboo world of tortoise sex. A news story from AFP went viral this week about a very special tortoise named Diego. What’s so special about Diego? Just the fact that he has around 800 kids. Here’s a link to the original story, in case you want all the gory details. According to AFP, as recently as 50 years ago there were only two male tortoises and a dozen females left on Española Island, the Galápagos Island off the coast of Ecuador that one particular subspecies of the Galápagos giant tortoise — specifically, Chelonoidis hoodensis — calls home. Diego and his mates changed all that with the power of love. Hit it, Huey!
Source: www.youtube.com / Via: www.youtube.com
Now, the number of Española giant tortoises in the wild numbers over a thousand. It’s estimated that Diego fathered around 40% of the Española tortoises currently alive today. Bless you, Diego, you horny old dog. I mean, tortoise. He’s not a dog. What do you think? Would you hook up with Diego if you were a female tortoise, or is 100 too old for you? Let us know in the comments below or @WhatsTrending on Twitter!