Officials are investigating the killing of four Galapagos giant tortoises amid fears the critically endangered creatures are being hunted for meat.
Last year 15 of the species were slaughtered and Ecuador authorities believe that the animals are being killed for meat - which has been illegal since 1933.
The remains of the four tortoises killed recently were found in the Galapagos National Park on Isabela Island, the largest island in the archipelago.
The deaths prompted Ecuadorian prosecutors to open a preliminary investigation last month.
The 15 tortoises found dead in September last year were also discovered on the same island.
Global News reports that the Galapagos Conservancy, a US-based non-profit that works to conserve the archipelago said: “Evidence from the (2021) investigation showed that the reptiles had likely been hunted for consumption.
“Galapagos Conservancy strongly condemns the poaching and eating of Giant Tortoises as an environmental crime."
In March 2021, 185 tortoise hatchlings were at Seymour airport in the Galapagos stuffed inside a suitcase during a routine inspection - with 10 of them dead by the time they were uncovered..
The meat of the tortoises was once considered a delicacy and there are fears that wildlife traffickers have found a market for it once more.
However, anyone convicted of killing the critically-endangered animals for their meat faces up to three years in jail.
Galapagos tortoises were made famous by Charles Darwin after he came up with his theory of evolution and natural selection by studying them.
Darwin and his crew took 30 live tortoises with them when they set sail for Polynesia after visiting the Galapagos and ate most of them as they crossed the Pacific.
According to local sources, Ecuadorian prosecutors said a special unit for environmental crime (UNIMEN) was sent on Tuesday to Isabela in order to examine the tortoise remains.
The team, which includes animal necropsy experts as well as detectives, will also interview park rangers.
National Geographic reports that there were once up to 250,000 Galapagos giant tortoises but only around 15,000 are alive today.
The populations is thought to have declined by 85 to 90 per cent since the early 1800s.
The arrival of sailors and pirates in the early 19th century almost drove the species to extinction, with visitors killing them for meet and introducing invasive species.
