Experts prepare pink iguana conservation project in Galapagos

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Experts from different organizations analyzed on the island of Santa Cruz, in Galapagos, strategies aimed at conserving the pink iguana, a rare species that usually lives at 1,500 meters above sea level and whose behavior and the threats it faces are barely known.

This was reported Friday by the Directorate of the Galapagos National Park (GNP), which, together with the Galapagos Conservancy, Island Conservation and Re:Wild, held a workshop to define the actions, budget, and partners who will work in each of the research activities of the Management Plan for the Conservation of the pink iguana (Conolophus Martha).

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After the last census carried out at the beginning of this month in Wolf Volcano, the population is estimated at 211 pink iguanas. However, 53 were located and captured, 94% of which live above 1,500 meters above sea level.

The first actions of the conservation plan include collecting information, building a permanent hut on the volcano, and controlling introduced predatory species. For the experts, it will be vital to identify when and where the pink iguanas’ nest.

Washington Tapia, Conservation Director of the Galapagos Conservancy, considered that “being restricted to a single site makes the species more vulnerable, as it is considered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to be in critical danger of extinction and, therefore, urgent actions are required to guarantee its conservation.”

The meeting brought scientists from the Tor Vergata University of Rome, the Galapagos Conservancy, the San Diego and Houston Zoos (USA), and technicians from the GNP Directorate, Re:Wild and Island Conservation.

The Galapagos Islands, located in the Pacific Ocean some 1,000 kilometers west of Ecuador’s mainland coast, were declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1978, thanks to their rich terrestrial and marine biodiversity, home to many unique species in the world.

This archipelago, named after the giant tortoises that inhabit it, comprises 13 large islands, 6 smaller ones, and 42 islets, and is considered a natural laboratory that allowed the English scientist Charles Darwin to develop his theory on the evolution and natural selection of species.

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