Pinta Island

Ecuador, Ecuador

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Pinta Island is the northernmost of the larger Galápagos Islands in Ecuador, spanning about 60 square kilometers with a maximum elevation of 777 meters on a shield volcano featuring young lava flows and fissures.

Uninhabited by humans, it was once home to the Pinta giant tortoise subspecies, famously represented by Lonesome George, the last known individual who died in 2022 after decades in captivity, symbolizing extinction risks from whaling and invasive species like goats.

The remote, arid island supports unique wildlife including swallow-tailed gulls, marine iguanas, Galápagos hawks, and fur seals, with ongoing Project Pinta efforts to restore its ecosystem through tortoise reintroduction using hybrid offspring.