This was reported by the Directorate of the Galapagos National Park (GNPD).
The life area of the pink iguanas, unique in the world, is far from the eruption zone and the impact zone of the Wolf volcano, which began an eruptive process at dawn this Friday after seven years of relative calm.
This was reported by the Directorate of the Galapagos National Park (GNPD) in a statement in which it pointed out that for this reason “it is not considered to adopt additional measures to” protect them.
The eruption of the Wolf volcano, in the north of Isabela Island, was witnessed by park rangers who were near the area carrying out different activities to manage the protected area, as well as tour operators who were navigating the surroundings.
Danny Rueda, director of the PNG, said that in their flyby this Friday they found that the lava flow is heading south of the crater of the Wolf volcano.
“This means that our emblematic populations such as turtles, land iguanas and mainly the pink iguana, are out of the lava flow that could affect their population in any way.”
The pink iguanas (Conolophus marthae), a unique species in the world, inhabit this volcano, located on Isabela Island, where they share a habitat with yellow iguanas and the giant tortoises Chelonoidis becki.
Last August, experts from different organizations analyzed strategies aimed at the conservation of the pink iguana, a rare species that usually inhabits 1,500 meters above sea level and whose behavior or threats it faces are hardly known.
The Galapagos National Park Directorate (PNG), Galapagos Conservancy, Island Conservation and Re: Wild participated in the analysis.
After the last census carried out at the beginning of last August, a population of 211 pink iguanas was calculated at the Wolf volcano, although 53 were located and captured, 94% of which lived above 1,500 meters above sea level.
Among the first actions of the conservation plan are the gathering of information, the construction of a permanent hut on the volcano and the control of predatory introduced species.
Experts consider it vital to identify when and where pink iguanas nest.
Last August, Washington Tapia, Conservation Director of the Galapagos Conservancy, indicated that “being restricted to a single site makes the species more vulnerable, considered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to be critically endangered. ”. (I)
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