Grigioni

Upon Lonesome George’s death in 2012, Grigioni wrote to Cayot saying that she had hoped to come back to Galapagos with her family to introduce them to her “boyfriend” George.

The true affection that Grigioni and many other in Galapagos came to feel for Lonesome George, and the affection that he appeared to bestow on a chosen few, suggests that we are more interconnected as species than estranged from one another.

Working an hour or two at a time, Grigioni’s job was to induce Lonesome George to produce sperm in the hopes that a female tortoise might be artificially inseminated.

Lonesome George grew to like Grigioni and appeared to look forward to her visits.

In those old days the Valtelline wines came duly every winter over snow-deep passes to fill the cellars of the Signori Grigioni.