Our early arrival caught the station personnel in the act of removing the mesh covers over the hatchling tortoise enclosures. Actually not quite "hatchlings" any more, these are individuals of a few months to a year or so old, from three to seven inches in diameter. They are of small enough size that the introduced black rat could potentially come in during the night for a feast. For this reason they are "tucked into bed" after visitors have had all day to gaze in awe at their tiny portions, so perfectly formed. Especially considering to what size they will grow, far into the future some 40 or more years from now. Once they have reached a size which the scientists consider large enough to be rat-proof, the youngsters are moved out of their pen and allowed to roam all around the ground, at the base of their former enclosure, yet still within a protected area. Here they learn what it is like to walk/crawl/trundle over rocks of lava and cinder, under prickly pear pads and thorn tree branches, find shade in the cracks of boulders or next to thick vegetation.
As these little tortoises are well-fed and looked after, they grow at a tremendous rate, and end up much larger than their scrawny, wild-grown cousins in the same amount of time. There is some concern that they aren't quite as prepared for the fight for survival once released into the wilds of their native island. On the other hand, they are well padded and stocked for leaner times, so it all seems to work out in the end. This program of raising tortoises in captivity has resulted in outstanding success for more than just a few races of the Galapagos giant tortoise. It is good to know that all of us, as well as future generations, will get to stare in fascination at these alien-looking creatures. To us, "alien" might describe them well, but we must keep in mind that after all, they inhabited this earth long before we ever arrived on the scene.
