Anything besides tortoises?

Hi, Mrs. Barrett! How's the Galapagos? I got a question about the Charles Darwin Research Center. Is the only thing they study there tortoises? And if they do, why don't they study other endangered animals? Do they have separate centers for different animals? Are there many different endangered species on the Galapagos? Hopefully none of these animals are endangered for long! Well have a safe and nice trip and I hope to see you soon!

Amanda Pd. 2

Amanda, good question about the Darwin Research Station. In addition to tortoises, they have a land iguana conservation program. The station is also involved in many other projects throughout the Galapagos; projects that help protect native and endemic plants and animals. One such project was on the island of Isabella. There were 150,000 feral goats on the island. This huge population was depleting the vegetation on the island, leaving very little for the endemic species, like the tortoises. After the majority of the goats were eradicated, the vegetation came back in three months and species that were in trouble benefited. This was the largest successful eradication project done in the world. The CDRS also get involved in educating students about the environment and challenging them to create solutions.

I don't know exactly all the species that are endangered, however, over the years, the Galapagos has had few extinctions and still has >95% of its native species. The islands of Hawaii have lost approximately 50% of their native birds alone. All is not lost in the Galapagos.