North Seymour Island Iguana in the Galapagos Islands

by Catherine Sherman

Title

North Seymour Island Iguana in the Galapagos Islands

Artist

Catherine Sherman

Medium

Photograph - Photography

Description

"North Seymour Island Iguana, Galapagos Islands" by Catherine Sherman.

A land iguana seeks shade from the fierce midday sun on North Seymour Island in the Galapagos Islands of Ecuador.

Seventy land iguanas (Conolophus subcristatus) were introduced to North Seymour in 1930-31 by a team of scientists on the Hancock Expedition (G. Alan Hancock was a wealthy Californian industrialist) from nearby Baltra Island, where they were going extinct. Although the terrain and vegetation was similar on North Seymour, it had no land iguana population. North Seymour is now home to nearly 2,500 land iguanas

The ultimate demise of the last iguanas on Baltra in 1954 is attributed to many factors including habitat destruction by introduced goats, predation by introduced cats and dogs, and additional habitat destruction caused by the construction and use of a U.S. air base. In 1980, several iguanas from North Seymour were brought to the iguana center on Santa Cruz for breeding and in 1991, the first 35 young land iguanas were reintroduced to Baltra, where they now thrive.

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May 3rd, 2015

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