Yesterday Lonesome George, the last of the Pinta Island subspecies of the giant tortoise died, marking the total extinction of his subspecies. It’s a sad day, as Lonesome George became a symbol of other species on the brink of extinction, and an ambassador for Ecuador’s Galapagos Islands.

The tortoise’s age was not known but scientists believed he was about 100, not especially old for giant tortoises, who can live well over a century. Scientists had expected him to live another few decades at least.

After he was found in 1972, various mates had been provided for Lonesome George to try and keep his subspecies alive. His disinterest in sex saw him face suggestions that he was gay, but after 15 years of living with a female tortoise from the nearby Wolf volcano, Lonesome George did mate, but the eggs were infertile. He has spent the the remainder of his life with female tortoises from Espanola island, which are genetically closer to him than those from Wolf volcano, but Lonesome George failed to mate with them.

The Galapagos’ giant tortoise population was decimated after the arrival of humans but a recovery program run by the park and the Charles Darwin Foundation has increased the overall population from 3,000 in 1974 to 20,000 today.