Lonesome George, the last giant Galapagos tortoise in the world who recently died, will be preserved and displayed at a museum.
George was recently brought out of a deep freeze and prepared for taxidermy, the New York Times reported.
He will be on display at the American Museum of Natural History, before getting shipped back to the islands for permanent display.
The late tortoise's pose was chosen by people who knew him well, in order to preserve his legacy as accurately as possible. He will be preserved with his neck outstretched, as if he was looking for his favorite food, a cactus.
"What George is as a symbol of shouldn't be forgotten," Linda Cayot, the science adviser to the Galapagos Conservancy, who knew George well said. "And the best way of doing that is having him there in front of everyone."
George's preservation didn't come cheap, the taxidermy project has already cost $30,000.
The lonesome tortoise became a symbol of conservation, being the last known member of his subspecies.
The Pintas (the subcategory George belonged to) tortoises' were hunted extensively by whalers and fishermen in the 19th century. Wild goats that were brought to the area in the 1950s ate up the species' wild vegetarian fare.
The tortoises' were thought to be extinct, until George was found in 1971. Extensive efforts to breed the rare creature ensued, but proved to be unsuccessful.
James P. Gibbs, a professor at the SUNY environmental college, who accompanied the body to N.Y. believes some of George's personality traits could have led to his survival in the wild.
"I expect he was probably fairly solitary before he was found. He was a very complicated tortoise," he said.
George was believed to be about 100 years old at his time of death, which was unexpected, but believed to be from natural causes.
"Poor old chap," George Dante, who is working on his preservation, said. "You feel for him. You wouldn't be human if you didn't."
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