The Press Stories
(Quito) A scientific trip to the Ecuadorian archipelago Galapagos conducted the first census of the pink iguana population, a species only described by science in 2009, which announced Galapagos National Park (GNP) on Friday.
About thirty scientists and park rangers took part in a ten-day voyage north of Isabella Island (the largest in the archipelago) to the Oslo volcano in August, “which allowed them to estimate the population of 211 pink iguanas,” GNP said in a statement.
The pink Iguanas (Conolobus marte) lives exclusively on 25 square kilometers and is “extremely vulnerable to restrictions on a single site”, which is considered extremely dangerous by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), said Galapagos Conservancy, director of the U.S. organization Galapagos Conservation, which organized the trip with GNP.
“Urgent action is needed to ensure its safety,” he added.
Cameras are fitted to study their behavior and document the threats they face.
The Galapagos Archipelago is located 1000 km off the coast of Ecuador and is classified as a World Heritage and World Biosphere Reserve for its unique flora and fauna.
