Economists estimate extreme poverty could be drastically reduced for a fraction of global defence spending, yet military budgets continue to expand year on year, says JON TRICKETT MP, ahead of the Stop the War International Conference on Saturday
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Giant tortoise on the menu
PETER FROST investigates the poaching and eating of century-old tortoises in the Galapagos Islands
Giant Galapagos tortoises can live for almost 200 years
[Matthew Field/Creative Commons]
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THOSE readers who ramble along with me most Fridays will know how much I love tortoises, turtles and terrapins. They are among my favourite, most interesting forms of wildlife.
Sadly the most famous of them — the 13 species of giant and aged tortoises of the various Galapagos Islands, 600 miles off the coast of Ecuador — are in the news at the moment. They are being caught and eaten, or sold for their delicious but very expensive meat.
These giant reptiles can live for nearly two centuries. Males weigh up to 500 pounds (227kg). Females only reach 250 pounds (113kg).
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