Good news! They found hatchlings and juveniles of pink iguanas in Galapagos

After years of research, and for the first time, neonates and juveniles of pink iguanas were found in the Galapagos National Park. The information was disseminated through the Twitter social network of the Minister of the Environment, Gustavo Manrique, on the morning of this Tuesday, December 20, 2022. 

Pink iguanas are on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

The species were found north of Isabela Island, on Wolf Volcano. Manrique mentioned that “Good news for our country! After years of research, neonates and juveniles of pink iguanas were found for the first time. This, thanks to a research team from @parquegalapagos and @savegalapagos.”

This is a transcendental milestone for this unique species in the world. The work was carried out by the Directorate of the Galapagos National Park, the Ministry of Environment, Water and Ecological Transition, together with the Galapagos Conservancy. They are involved in the Galapagos Initiative program, with which they have carried out seven expeditions to find out the status of this reptile, threats have been identified, nesting sites have been documented, and hatchlings have been monitored in their different stages of development.

For the protection of the pink iguanas, a permanent research and monitoring station of the biodiversity of the Wolf volcano was installed. Its objective is the restoration of the population of pink iguanas ( Conolophus marthae ) that are in danger of extinction. 

This reptile is on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. The main reason is that the population is approximately 192 mature individuals. They share habitat with yellow iguanas and giant tortoises ( Chelonoidis becki) on this island.