A PORTRAIT of a super virile rare tortoise is going on show at a North Yorkshire gallery to mark Valentine's Day.

Robert Fuller painted Super Diego, who is more than 100-years-old, in the Galapagos Islands in 2014.

The rare saddle-backed Espanola tortoise was introduced to the islands in the 70s to boost the breeding programme for the threatened species, and is thought to have fathered 1,700 baby tortoises since then.

The portrait was painted in acrylics by Yorkshire wildlife artist Robert Fuller, who was lucky enough to meet and paint Diego during a visit to the islands on a research tour in 2014.

Now his painting is on show at his gallery at Fotherdale Farm, in the Yorkshire Wolds near Thixendale, to mark Valentine's Day.

Robert said: “I was very impressed. What a male! Super Diego managed to restore his entire species. Quite a reputation to have.”