The last known resident to step foot in the Pinta soil was Lonesome George.

After Lonesome George was removed in 1972 by the Galapagos National Park and placed in captivity in Santa Cruz Island no other tortoise has placed foot since. Now years later in a mission to restore balance into the ecosystem a group of scientists, park wardens, journalists, and most inportant a dozens of giant tortoises on board the Sierra Negra were anxious to disembark to make conservation history. To be exact 39 tortoises all hatched between the 60´s and 70´s as part of breeding program ran by the Galapagos National Park and Charles Darwin Foundation are taken part in this history making event. The goal of the mission is for the tortoises to maintain the ever growing vegetation that has gone undisturbed and threatened other plants that thrive of the sun. Each tortoise was sterilized by a group of veterinary surgeons as a precaution so that they will not be able to interbreed with genetically pure animals. In addition each tortoise was treated for intestinal worms to prevent the introduction of unwanted parasites. Also, they were fitted with a satellite or radio transmitter so that the Galapagos National Park staff and researchers in New York can keep track of the tortoises new freedom and the impact they were having in the ecosystem. This is a big step for the conservation of the Galapagos Islands and its wildlife.