Cerro Dragon, Santa Cruz Island, Guy Fawkes & Sombrero Chino
“A new record!” The proclamation rang through the warm air this morning.
Cerro Dragon, an area in the north eastern corner of Santa Cruz Island, has been notorious for its successful repatriation of a growing population of Galápagos land iguanas. The dusty trail was lined by muted colors of grasses and vegetation interrupted by large specimens of Opuntia cacti. The astonishingly sharp yellow color of the large male iguanas screamed out at us. The smaller and less colorful females were to some extent more camouflaged with their environment, but no less impressive among closer investigation.
Along the half-mile loop trail we began our ritual of tallying the iguana sightings. “Two!” “Three!” “Four!” The efforts of the program set up by the Charles Darwin Research Station were starting to become apparent… “Eleven!” “Twelve!” “Thirteen and Fourteen!” Becoming even more apparent were the sharp eyes of our especially astute group of hunters... “Seventeen!” Eighteen!!” The previous record had been matched and then… “Nineteen!!!” …it was shattered.
The counting went on and on into the morning until a grand total of thirty iguanas had been spotted. The eradication of feral cats and dogs which had once devastated these wonderful creatures is all but complete, and the land iguanas could roam free once again in the place that was named just for them: “Dragon Hill.”
“A new record!” The proclamation rang through the warm air this morning.
Cerro Dragon, an area in the north eastern corner of Santa Cruz Island, has been notorious for its successful repatriation of a growing population of Galápagos land iguanas. The dusty trail was lined by muted colors of grasses and vegetation interrupted by large specimens of Opuntia cacti. The astonishingly sharp yellow color of the large male iguanas screamed out at us. The smaller and less colorful females were to some extent more camouflaged with their environment, but no less impressive among closer investigation.
Along the half-mile loop trail we began our ritual of tallying the iguana sightings. “Two!” “Three!” “Four!” The efforts of the program set up by the Charles Darwin Research Station were starting to become apparent… “Eleven!” “Twelve!” “Thirteen and Fourteen!” Becoming even more apparent were the sharp eyes of our especially astute group of hunters... “Seventeen!” Eighteen!!” The previous record had been matched and then… “Nineteen!!!” …it was shattered.
The counting went on and on into the morning until a grand total of thirty iguanas had been spotted. The eradication of feral cats and dogs which had once devastated these wonderful creatures is all but complete, and the land iguanas could roam free once again in the place that was named just for them: “Dragon Hill.”
