And how many of these bones have you actually found? This is the extraordinary thing. In the excavations at the Mare aux Songes we found about 7,000 bones of which 95% are tortoises, which meant they were in huge numbers there. That's sort of number must have had a big impact on the ecology of Mauritius. They must have been absolutely vital disperser for seeds, they would have eaten every fruit on the ground, walked away from the parent plant and disperse these seeds everywhere, so the plants must have suffered when these tortoises disappeared. The extinct tortoise seems to be pivotal to the survival of the ebony forest and the ancient habitat of Mauritius. And Julian's discovery has inspired one man to attempt what seems impossible, to re-build the lost land of the dodo. Karl Jones is a renowned conservationist. Karl is conducting an extraordinary experiment on a small island off the coast of Mauritius, to restore the ancient habitat simply by re-introducing giant tortoises.


你发现了多少巨型陆龟的骨头？ 这是一惊人发现。位于毛里求斯东南方，在马尔桑吉斯的考古挖掘中，我们找到约七千块骨头，其中95%都是巨型陆龟的。这意味着当年它们的数目非常庞大。 如此庞大的数目，一定对毛里求斯的生态，有着巨大影响。 它们绝对是种子传播的关键媒介，只要是陆地上的果实，它们都吃。它们会带着果实离开其生长地，食用后排泄，将种子散落各地，因此随着陆龟渐渐消失。 这些植物的处境变得艰难起来，看起来，灭绝的陆龟不仅是乌木林能否存活的关键，也是整个毛里求斯原始生态恢复的关键。朱利安的这一发现启发了一个人，他要重建渡渡鸟的失地，这件事听来像是痴人说梦。卡尔·琼斯是著名的环境保护学家。眼下，他在毛岛附近的一座小岛人，主持一个非同寻常的实验，通过引进巨型陆龟，来还原它的原始生态环境。