_The Greatest Galapagos Discovery In Over 100 Years!_ _ Extinct or Alive_

So we've just dropped down now into the greenery and vegetation and for the first time on this island it feels like we're in a habitat that could actually support a tortoise. There's trees, there's shrubbery, there's moisture on the ground. I mean this is actually ideal habitat for a tortoise. Oh look at this, look at this. This is tortoise scat right here. This is genetic proof that there's a tortoise on this island. Oh there's more up here, look up here. Oh my god, see how this bush is all flattened? An iguana couldn't do that. That's from a big tortoise shell flattening all of this vegetation out and pushing over here. Look at that, look at the size of that. There's only one animal on this entire island that could do a dropping like that. It's bigger than my hand. That right there, this, this is 100% genetic proof that the animal is still alive. This is a huge scientific accomplishment to find this. Unbelievable. Wacho, wacho, wacho, do you copy? I've found excrementia, scat and big scratch marks from a tortoise here in the green area. It's such an honor sharing this experience with two of the world's leading experts on giant tortoises and maybe the only other people on earth as excited as I am about poop. Look my friends. Wow. Look at that right there, right there by your feet. 100% confirmation of tortoise. And I think this was in the highland and come here because it's completely grass. All the grasses. Yeah. But that's proof, 100% confirmation. No bite. So what Jeffrey is explaining here is tortoises don't chew their food, they just take a bite and swallow. Whereas iguanas, everything else chew their food and you can see all of this grass is intact. So it's undeniable, 100% proof of tortoises here on Fernandina. That's not very old. No. This scat needs to be collected and studied. But it also means there's a live tortoise nearby. There's a tortoise around here now. I think so. What I'm going to do is take a sample. I know without any doubt that this is the proof that we've been looking for. There are indeed tortoises here on Fernandina. In the center is fresh wet material and that material uncontaminated will contain DNA. This right here is undeniably the most important, most beautiful poop I've ever found. This is incredible. If it's recent enough and we find any other signs, I may be able to track it. We can't even continue on one thing. They've just found a tortoise bed right over here. I mean, this is, there's proof in every direction. This is a tortoise bedding area. He's dug down to cool off into this muddy area. You can see there's footprints right here. You can still see it's wet. I mean, it's here. There are tortoises here on Fernandina. Holy. The tortoise is right here. We got her. Look at this. We found her. We found her. After 112 years. I can't imagine what she's thinking since we are the first humans she has ever seen. Oh my God. Oh, me too. I want to give her a kiss. It's a very old female. I'm in the Galapagos Islands, living out a childhood dream of studying tortoises. And we've just found what nobody believed we could. The greatest Galapagos discovery in over 100 years. A live specimen of the previously extinct Fernandina tortoise. But you can see she's saddle-backed in shape. Yes. She lives at lower elevation. There's less to eat here, so it makes sense that she's smaller. You can see this plate and you compare with the pictures of the male in the cast. It's the same form. Exactly. This very unique ridging. The pinch at the hind, the pinch at the front. Completely unique tortoise. No other species on earth has this shell shape. Absolutely. Oh my God. What just happened is beyond words. It's beyond comprehension. It is undeniably the largest discovery for turtles and tortoises in, well, probably 112 years since the one and only Fernandina specimen was collected. I'm beyond words, honestly. The emotions that I'm feeling, the amount of excitement, the fact that it's a tortoise, and turtles and tortoises are likely my favorite animals in the world. It's hard to actually articulate how exciting this is. But this right here is a Fernandina Island tortoise. So now what we're doing is bringing our fantastic specimen into a nice cool area, and Washington, Jeffrey, and myself are going to conduct all of the necessary science. It's funny to think that just two hours ago, I collected this piece of scat and thought this was the most incredible scientific finding, basically, of my life. And now sitting here is the most important find of my life. So you want to do measurements first? Yeah. I've sent half the crew down the mountain to get the boat ready to transport this incredible tortoise. But before we carry her down, we're quickly collecting measurements and even taking a small blood sample. It's the only animal of its kind in existence, so to have the genetic material is hugely important. So now what we're doing is putting a PIT tag in the animal. Tortoise barely feels it. Tag's inserted, activated, and all done. And she's done. And just like that, the first scientific data on Chilonia fantasticus has been completed. So the emotional wildlife lover in me wants to leave her here. She's lived here for 120 years, and this is her home. But the scientist in me, the conservationist, the person that knows what's best for the species, knows that she has to be taken to a facility. What that will do is secure millions of dollars in funding to send return efforts to find a male, compatible male, that she can breed with and bring the species population way up. So it's the right thing to do.