On Española Island in the Galapagos, the giant tortoise population had dropped to just 15 animals. A breeding program begun in the 1960s brought together two other males and 12 females with a tortoise named Diego, who had spent decades at a zoo. The program worked so well that Española now has a stable population of around 2,300 tortoises. Diego alone fathered at least 800 offspring. On June 15, 2020, when he was over 100 years old, Diego and 14 other tortoises were carried back to Española and released into the wild. One faithful old tortoise helped bring a whole species back from the edge. Faithfulness over a long life can bless generations.
