# Lonesome George Dead at 100+ **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 25, 2012, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lonesome-george-dead-at-100/626204 "2012-06-25T02:02:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2012, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lonesome-george-dead-at-100/626204/1 "2012-06-25T02:02:35Z")
No, not George Gobel. He bit the dust years ago. I mean [Lonesome George the Tortoise](http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/06/24/12386484-lonesome-george-last-of-its-kind-galapagos-tortoise-dies?lite). The last of his subspecies, in the Galapagos Islands. RIP, George. We hardly knew ye. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2012, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lonesome-george-dead-at-100/626204/2 "2012-06-25T02:21:19Z")
Sic transit gloria mundi. ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2012, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lonesome-george-dead-at-100/626204/3 "2012-06-25T02:36:36Z")
He was probably a Nice Guy tortoise and treated all the female tortoises with respect and dignity instead of like an asshole, which they all love. Disclaimer for the humor impaired. Guys who “get the girl” are not all assholes. In reality George was just socially inept and when he thought he was being nice he was just being a pathetic doormat. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2012, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lonesome-george-dead-at-100/626204/4 "2012-06-25T14:19:02Z")
Celebrity Death? ---
**Author:** ![Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/4bbf92/32.png) [@Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heart_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2012, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lonesome-george-dead-at-100/626204/5 "2012-06-25T14:45:28Z")
Tsk, and so _[young](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gal%C3%A1pagos_tortoise)_, too: > [@](#): > > A captive individual lived at least 170 years. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2012, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lonesome-george-dead-at-100/626204/6 "2012-06-25T17:12:37Z")
I hear all the girls thought he was a creeper. ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2012, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lonesome-george-dead-at-100/626204/7 "2012-06-25T18:47:05Z")
He lived with two females, but would not sleep with them. Maybe he was gay or he was the tortise version of Jack Tripper. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2012, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lonesome-george-dead-at-100/626204/8 "2012-06-25T19:17:29Z")
> [@Death\_of\_Rats](#): > > He lived with two females, but would not sleep with them. Maybe he was gay or he was the tortise version of Jack Tripper. Well, they were females of another species (albeit a closely related one, with which crossbreeding _might_ have been possible). George was the last surviving member of his own species for many decades. That is why they called him lonesome.☹ So it is really more as if Jack Tripper had had a couple of female chimps for roommates. (One does wonder about Chrissy.) ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2012, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lonesome-george-dead-at-100/626204/9 "2012-06-25T19:26:09Z")
Anyway, can you blame him for staying celibate? [Look what happened the last time.](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/47884202#.T-i6svXNltM) ---
**Author:** ![Yeticus\_Rex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a698b9/32.png) [@Yeticus\_Rex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeticus_Rex)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2012, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lonesome-george-dead-at-100/626204/10 "2012-06-25T22:07:19Z")
[From Google Maps, here are some pics of Lonesome George in his prime along with other turtles.](https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=-0.74117,-90.302939&spn=0.002103,0.003484&client=dell-usuk&adsafe=high&safe=high&hnear=17191+Jasmine+St,+Victorville,+California+92395&t=h&z=19&lci=com.panoramio.all,org.wikipedia.en) ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lonesome-george-dead-at-100/626204/11 "2012-06-26T15:41:04Z")
> [@Death\_of\_Rats](#): > > He lived with two females, but would not sleep with them. Maybe he was gay or he was the tortise version of Jack Tripper. Or a tortoise Gandhi, as Gandhi would sometimes sleep in bed with naked, nubile young ladies as a test for his celibacy. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lonesome-george-dead-at-100/626204/12 "2012-06-26T20:04:33Z")
Aw, R.I.P. George. I didn’t realize the females weren’t technically the same type of turtle. I thought he was just gay or something. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lonesome-george-dead-at-100/626204/13 "2012-06-26T20:11:04Z")
> [@](#): > > I didn’t realize the females weren’t technically the same type of turtle. I thought he was just gay or something. Well, George certainly wasn’t all that curious. ---
**Author:** ![Enter\_the\_Flagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Enter\_the\_Flagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enter_the_Flagon)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lonesome-george-dead-at-100/626204/14 "2012-06-27T05:05:59Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Or a tortoise Gandhi, as Gandhi would sometimes sleep in bed with naked, nubile young ladies as a test for his celibacy. “Oops, failed again!” ---
**Author:** ![Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nunzio_Tavulari)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lonesome-george-dead-at-100/626204/15 "2012-06-27T06:39:42Z")
The girls wanted to like him but they could never get him to come out of his shell. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lonesome-george-dead-at-100/626204/16 "2012-06-27T07:17:07Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > I didn’t realize the females weren’t technically the same type of turtle. I thought he was just gay or something. After a few decades, George apparently decided desperate times and all that. So he did mate with the female turtles and eggs were laid. But all of the eggs were infertile, perhaps due to the species being too far apart or George’s advanced age. ---
**Author:** ![nivlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3bc359/32.png) [@nivlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nivlac)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lonesome-george-dead-at-100/626204/17 "2012-06-27T07:26:34Z")
I’m so glad that I had a chance to see him two years ago in his Galapagos habitat. Hate to say it but he didn’t look all that great back then, so it was just a matter of time before the inevitable happened. Goodbye George.