Lonesome George, the last remaining tortoise of his kind and a conservation icon, died on Sunday of unknown causes, officials at the Galapagos National Park in Ecuador said.

The giant tortoise, believed to be around 100 years old, was found in 1972 and had become a symbol of Galapagos Islands, which attracted some 180,000 visitors last year.

He was the last member of a subspecies of giant tortoise from La Pinta, one of the smallest islands in the Galapagos, the Galapagos National Park said.

The giant Galapagos tortoises, which can live up to 200 years old, were among the species that helped Charles
Darwin to formulate his theory of evolution in the 19th century.

Al Jazeera's Charlie Angela reports.