19898

You refer to Lonesome George, the Galápagos tortoise, as “misanthropic”—meaning a hater of people. He certainly has good reason to dislike humans, but I wonder how the investigators could tell. Or did you mean that George doesn’t like other tortoises, and is therefore antisocial?

Roman Kozak
Omaha, Neb.

Lonesome George’s lack of gregariousness extends across species: He has shown next to no interest in other tortoises, and retreats to the far reaches of his enclosure when tourists and other strangers come to gawk. —B. Nelson