his two companions, but although two clutches of eggs were collected and incubated, all failed to hatch. Henry Nicholls, author of Lonesome George: The Life and Loves of the World's Most Famous Tortoise , reported that George was irresistibly attracted to the late Lord Devon's wartime helmet, presumably because it resembled the shell of a young tortoise. Even after being put on a diet, the celibate tortoise with the scraggy neck, who could have been expected to live until he was well over 200, remained obstinately alone. Conservation scientists on Monday said George was important because he symbolised both the rapid loss of biodiversity now taking place around the world, and provided the inspiration to begin restoring it in places like the Galpagos Islands. "Because of George's fame, Galpagos tortoises which were down to just a few animals on some islands have recovered their populations. He opened the door to finding new genetic techniques to help them breed and showed the way to restore habitats," said Richard Knab of the Galpagos Conservancy, which is running giant tortoise breeding programmes with the Ecuadorean government. In 1960, 11 of the Galpagos Islands' original 14 populations of tortoises remained, and most were on the point of extinction. Today, around 20,000 giant tortoises of different subspecies inhabit the islands and most of the feral goats have been eradicated. But George will be sorely missed for financial reasons, too. As the star of the islands and an icon of global wildlife , he helped attract