Originally known from only one male specimen found (and killed) by members of the 1906
California Academy of Sciences expedition, there were discoveries of putative tortoise droppings and cactus bite marks in 1964 and 2013, and an unconfirmed sighting in 2009. No confirmed live tortoises nor remains were found on Fernandina until an expedition in February 2019 discovered a potential
endling, an elderly female. The tortoise was transferred to a breeding center on nearby
Santa Cruz Island, for the purpose of conservation and genetic tests. There are efforts being made to find a suitable male breeding mate for the female. The 2019 expedition was undertaken by the Galapagos National Park Directorate and Galapagos Conservancy and was led by Washington Tapia-Aguilera - Director of Conservation at the Galapagos Conservancy and director of the Giant Tortoise Restoration Initiative - and included four rangers: Jeffreys Málaga, Eduardo Vilema, Roberto Ballesteros, and Simon Villamar. this is disputed by Tapia-Aguilera who has highlighted that "Ecuadorian park ranger Jeffreys Málaga was the one that knew the land, tracked the tortoise, and ultimately made the discovery before calling over the rest of the team." Galante himself wrote in his 2021 memoir that Málaga spotted the tortoise, prompting Galante to race toward it and lift it up. He continued to accuse Tapia-Aguilera of erasing Galante’s own involvement in the discovery to bolster his career, and said he’d have been glad to give the local biologists the lead and share credit with them had they asked. The Galapagos Conservancy has reportedly launched further expeditions to Fernandina Island searching for a male tortoise, rebuffing Galante’s attempts to collaborate again. In 2022, the genetic findings were formally published. The Director of the Galapagos National Park, Danny Rueda, has said that a further expedition will be launched to Fernandina Island to try to locate other members of the same subspecies. ==See also==