Volcano erupts on Galapagos island with world's only pink iguanas

Quito, May 26: The Wolf volcano is erupting on Isabela Island in the Galapagos Islands, home to the world's only population of pink land iguanas, the management of Galapagos National Park said.

A park official told Efe on Monday that, for now, neither the pink nor yellow iguanas nor the giant tortoises will be harmed by the eruption thanks to the direction the lava is flowing.

However, he said, that can only be confirmed by observation of the site once the volcano's eruptions have subsided.

The park official said that some 500 pink land iguanas, endemic to Isabela Island, inhabit the area northwest of Wolf volcano and that fortunately the lava is flowing in a southeasterly direction.

He also said that no human populations are endangered by the eruptions.

This is the 12th time the Wolf volcano has erupted since 1797, when it was recorded for the first time, the source said, adding that it last erupted in 1982.

The Galapagos pink land iguana (Conolophus marthae), which measures 110 cm long, has been steadily observed since 2009, when it was official classified as a species.

The Galapagos archipelago, located some 1,000 km west of the coast of continental Ecuador, was declared a Natural World Heritage Site in 1978 by UNESCO.

IANS