The story of how Diego, the horny tortoise, preserved his species is a sexual superstar.

The life of Diego, the tortoise who lives on Espanola Island, has been very lengthy and full of sexual encounters; yet, nothing is permanent. Not even a tortoise that is horny. After spending the last three decades as the stud in a breeding programme that was successful in saving his species, the centenarian with the insatiable libido will shortly be released back into the wild.

Following Diego’s successful efforts in bringing the Espanola Island tortoise back from the verge of extinction, the Galapagos Conservancy has announced that it would be discontinuing the breeding programme and granting him permission to retire to the Galapagos Islands with the organisation.

In the year 1976, the Galapagos Conservancy recruited Diego to participate in its breeding programme. At the time, he was one of just fifteen individuals of his kind that had survived. The Santa Cruz breeding facility produced hundreds of children over the period of thirty years thanks to Diego, who entered the programme along with two males and twelve females. He rapidly became their sex god and was responsible for producing that many kids.

According to Jorge Carrion, the director of Galapagos National Park, there are about 2,000 Espanola Island tortoises that are still living today.
During an interview with the AFP, Carrion said that “He has contributed a large percentage to the lineage that we are returning to Espanola.”

According to environmentalist James P. Gibbs, around forty percent of all live giant tortoises on Espanola Island are linked to Diego. This information was provided to the New York Times.
Gibbs attributes Diego’s success to the “big personality” that he has. The tortoise, according to him, is “quite aggressive, active, and vocal in his mating habits,” and as a result, he believes that he has received the most of the attention.

The tortoise, on the other hand, is not the most successful kind. Gibbs said that one of the other males, who is only referred to as E5, was responsible for the fertilisation of sixty percent of the entire tortoise population. The third man has made almost little contribution to the efforts being made to reinstate the population. Gibbs said that it is obviously the other man who is more reserved who has achieved a great deal more success. In addition, he said that the more reserved male was not nearly as ostentatious with his mating behaviours as Diego was.

It’s possible that he likes to find a partner at night. His cousin, the well-known Lonesome George, did not come close to achieving the same level of popularity as Diego, the playboy. In 2012, the later turtle, Chelonoidis abingdonii, became extinct as a result of an unsuccessful breeding programme that was intended to conserve his species.

Under the same conditions, Diego’s species, Chelonoidis hoodensis, performed far better than other species. There is a widespread belief that Diego is more than one hundred years old; nevertheless, his precise age is unclear. It is thought that he has spent the most of his life in captivity, with the past thirty years being spent at the institution that is responsible for breeding.

While his species was on the verge of extinction in the wild as a result of tourism, overfishing, and the introduction of goats into the Galapagos Islands, Diego was in the San Diego Zoo enjoying his time there. With Diego’s unceasing efforts, the Galapagos Conservancy reports that there are now sufficient tortoises in the wild for the population to flourish on its own. This is largely due to Diego’s unquenchable need for knowledge.

Despite the fact that it is not known how much longer Diego has to live, there is no assurance that he will refrain from engaging in sexual activities after he retires. It is his intention to return to a chain of islands in the Galapagos that has suddenly become swarming with lady tortoises, the majority of whom are not linked to him. A second interview with the Washington Post was conducted by Gibbs, who said, “He might actually amp it up.” We are going to see.