The Wolf volcano, located on Isabela Island in the Ecuadorian Galapagos archipelago, has erupted. It is the habitat of pink iguanas, a unique species in the world, which lives there with yellow iguanas and giant Chelonoidis becky tortoises. None of them are in the course of the lava, according to the Directorate of the Galapagos National Park.
Danny Rueda, Director of the Galapagos National Park:
“We were able to verify today, in an overflight we did in the morning, that the lava flow is directed south of the Wolf Volcano crater, this means that our populations of emblematic species such as turtles, land iguanas and, mainly , the pink iguana, are out of the lava or lava flow that could affect, in some way, their populations. “
On its Twitter account, the institution posted a photograph of the event, which was captured by the park rangers.
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 becky.
The first record of a volcano eruption was in 1797.
El Wolf is the highest volcano in the archipelago, with 1,707 meters above sea level and one of the five active volcanoes on Isabela Island, along with Sierra Negra, Cerro Azul, Alcedo and Darwin.
The Wolf volcano is not located near an inhabited area and does not pose a risk to the human population.
According to the Geophysical Institute, from 0020 local time (07:20 GMT) you can see a cloud of gas and ash that reach heights between 3,793 meters above sea level to the northeast and 1,943 meters above sea level to the west.
“There are no populations near the volcano or in the direction of the ash clouds.”
The mysterious pink iguana
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. “.
A unique archipelago in the world
The Galapagos Islands, located in the Pacific Ocean about a thousand kilometers west of the continental coasts of Ecuador, were declared a Natural World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1978, thanks to their rich terrestrial and marine biodiversity, where many unique species live in the world.
This archipelago, whose name is due to the giant tortoises that inhabit it, is made up of 13 large islands, 6 smaller and 42 islets, and is considered a natural laboratory that allowed the English scientist Charles Darwin to develop his theory on evolution and natural selection. of the species.
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Eddie is an Australian news reporter with over 9 years in the industry and has published on Forbes and tech crunch.