THE WONDERS OF THE GALAPAGOS ISLANDS

Eruption of the volcano Wolf, where the pink iguanas live

The Wolf volcano, located at Isabela Island in the Galapagos, started an eruption at dawn last Friday, January 07, 2022 after 7 years of relative calm. The first record of an eruption of this volcano was in 1797 and the most recent was in 2015. Wolf is the highest volcano in the archipelago of Galapagos, with 1707 meters above the sea level; the volcano is located far from the inhabited areas of the island. Therefore, this eruption does not represent a danger for the inhabitants of Isabela Island or the travelers who are visiting it.

However, in the area where this volcano is located, there are endemic and unique species such as the pink iguanas (Conolophus Marthae); these iguanas were first sighted in 1986 and were not seen again until 2009, when they were formally identified as a species different from the other Galapagos land iguanas. The defining characteristic is the color of their body, pink with black vertical stripes. The Galapagos pink iguana is only found in the nearby areas of the Wolf Volcano on Isabela Island. It is estimated that there are around 200 individuals of this species, which is why it is considered a critically endangered species.

Fortunately, the area in which these endemic iguanas of the Galapagos Islands live is far from the area of the eruption of the Wolf volcano. The Galapagos National Park Director pointed out that in the overflight carried out this last Friday it was found that the lava is heading south of the Wolf volcano crater, away from the endemic populations of turtles, land iguanas and mainly the pink iguana.