Sexploits of one giant tortoise save his species

One male tortoise can almost single-handedly be credited for saving his entire species. Diego the Tortoise, who's over 100-years-old, is a Galapagos giant tortoise who has procreated hundreds of times.

He is the father of an estimated 800 offspring, thus rebuilding his species' population located on Espanola, the southernmost island in the Galapagos Archipelago.

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

50 years ago, Diego's species consisted of two males and 12 females, but they were too far spread out across Espanola to reproduce.

Diego currently lives at a tortoise breeding center on the island and is the dominant male of the three assigned to repopulate the area.

Diego weighs about 175 pounds and is nearly 35 inches long and five feet when he tall when he stretches out.

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

See photos of Galapagos giant tortoises below: