Project Isabela on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
The Project Isabela ( es, Proyecto Isabela) was an environmental restoration project in the
The Project Isabela ( es, Proyecto Isabela) was an environmental restoration project in the Galápagos Islands
The Galápagos Islands (Spanish: , , ) are an archipelago of volcanic islands. They are distributed on each side of the equator in the Pacific Ocean, surrounding the centre of the Western Hemisphere, and are part of the Republic of Ecuador ...
of Ecuador
Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...
that took place between 1997 and 2006, initiated by the Charles Darwin Foundation
The Charles Darwin Foundation ( Spanish: ''Fundación Charles Darwin'') was founded in 1959, under the auspices of UNESCO and the World Conservation Union. The Charles Darwin Research Station serves as headquarters for The Foundation, and is use ...
and the Galápagos National Park
Galápagos National Park ( es, Parque Nacional Galápagos) was established in 1959. It began operation in 1968, and it is Ecuador's first national park and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Park history
The government of Ecuador has designated ...
. Species introduced in the 16th and 17th centuries to the islands, mainly goats
The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of th ...
and some donkeys
The domestic donkey is a hoofed mammal in the family Equidae, the same family as the horse. It derives from the African wild ass, ''Equus africanus'', and may be classified either as a subspecies thereof, ''Equus africanus asinus'', or as a ...
and pigs
The pig (''Sus domesticus''), often called swine, hog, or domestic pig when distinguishing from other members of the genus '' Sus'', is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is variously considered a subspecies of ''Sus ...
, brought ecological devastation to the islands and posed as a threat to the Galápagos tortoise
The Galápagos tortoise or Galápagos giant tortoise (''Chelonoidis niger'') is a species of very large tortoise in the genus ''Chelonoidis'' (which also contains three smaller species from mainland South America). It comprises 15 subspecies ( ...
that was by the 1990s near extinction
Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...
. By 1997, plans had been officially implemented to eradicate these introduced species in northern Isabela, Santiago
Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whos ...
, and Pinta islands. Skilled park rangers used helicopters to hunt and sterilized Judas goats, fitted with radio collars to track down the feral goats. The initiative was brought into action in 1999, and by 2006, 150,000 goats alone were eradicated. As of 2011, the project was the world's largest ecological island restoration effort ever.
See also
*List of animals in the Galápagos Islands
This is a list of animals that live in the Galápagos Islands. The fauna of the Galápagos Islands include a total of 9,000 confirmed species. Of them, none have been introduced by humans, and seventeen are endemic.
Mammals
Rodents
*Galápagos ...
References
Galápagos Islands Nature conservation in Ecuador Conservation projects Ecological restoration {{Ecuador-stub