Tortoise, 100, saves species after fathering 800 offspring

A "very sexually active" tortoise has almost single-handedly saved his species from extinction.

Diego, a Galapagos giant tortoise who is over 100 years old, has fathered an estimated 800 offspring - rebuilding the species' population on their native island, Espanola.

Of the 2,000 wild tortoises released onto Espanola, Diego has sired roughly 40%.

"He's a very sexually active male reproducer. He's contributed enormously to repopulating the island," Washington Tapia, a tortoise preservation specialist at Galapagos National Park, said.

Diego's species, Chelonoidis hoodensis, are only found in the wild on Espanola.

Around 50 years ago only 14 of the tortoises, two being male, were alive on the island.

Living at a tortoise breeding centre on Santa Cruz Island, Diego has done more than any other tortoise to drive up the island's population.

Diego, who is five-feet tall when stretching his legs and neck, was returned to the Galapagos islands in 1976 from the USA.

It is believed he may have originally been removed from the islands as part of a scientific expedition sometime between 1900 and 1959.