Tortoise, goat compete for survival on Galapagos Islands

Report sees clash between native species, new arrivals and humans

July 17, 1997
Web posted at: 5:16 p.m. EDT (2116 GMT)

GALAPAGOS ISLANDS, Ecuador (CNN) -- Tens of thousands of wild goats -- as well as pigs, rats and cats -- threaten the habitat of these islands, famous for their giant tortoises and other unique native species, according to an report released Thursday by the World Wildlife Fund.

The Galapagos Islands and surrounding waters off the Pacific coast of South America hold an estimated 1,900 plant and animal species found nowhere else on the planet.

More than 160 years ago, a young Charles Darwin first set eyes on the wonders of the Galapagos and found a diversity that eventually led him to his theories on the origin of species.

Things have changed since then. Goats, introduced 50 years ago, now far outnumber the estimated 10,000 giant tortoises on the protected group of more than 100 islands.

Miguel Pellerano, the fund's program director for the Galapagos Islands, says other non-native creatures -- including rats -- are intruding on the land and eating the eggs of birds and reptiles that have lived without natural predators "since the beginning of time."

The problem of foreign species is not new but has intensified in recent years.

All but 3 percent of the Galapagos, 600 miles (960 km) west of the South American mainland, has Ecuadoran National Park status, but its human population has more than doubled in the last 10 years to nearly 15,000.

CNN's Chris Riker reports

A marine biologist talks about living with the animals 1M/24 sec. QuickTime movie

Despite finding that man and nature are not living in harmony on the islands, the World Wildlife Fund hopes to strike a balance. It wants to ban all commercial fishing in island waters and stop migration from the continent. "At the same time," says Pellerano, "the population of the islands should benefit from tourism."

The money raised through tourism should be used for nature conservation, he told CNN.

The area is popular with fishing boats from Ecuador, Costa Rica and Peru, as well as from Korea and Taiwan, where there is a big market for sea cucumbers and shark fins.

The Ecuadorian government says it's working to draw up laws that will protect all interests.

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