 The most significant population recovery was that of the Española tortoise ("C. hoodensis"), which was saved from near-certain extinction.The population had been depleted to three males and 12 females that had been so widely dispersed that no mating in the wild had occurred.Fruitless attempts to breed one of the tortoises, Lonesome George for example, is speculated to be attributed to a lack of postnatal cues, and confusion over which would be the most appropriate genetic species would be the most appropriate to mate him with on the islands.