BACKGROUND

1. What is Isabela Island like?

Isabela is the largest island of the Galapagos with a surface area of 458,812 hectares (somewhat sea-horse shaped, roughly 150km / 95 miles long by 25km/16 miles wide on average) - it is larger than all other Galapagos islands put together. Isabela is divided equally into two distinct halves separated by the Perry Isthmus, which consists of a 12 km wide lava field. This lava field has been described by various explorers and locals using words like "hell on Earth, impenetrable, lunar, man-eating, ultimate desolation, razor sharp, deadly". The difficult conditions of the Perry Isthmus create a nearly perfect barrier to the movement of animals between northern and southern Isabela.

Southern Isabela: Consists of two volcanic peaks to apx. 1,500 metres (5,000ft). Villamil is a small settlement on the southern shore, and a small agricultural community farms lands above the town. This part of the island was settled over 100 years ago. Goats, cattle, donkeys, pigs and other animals have escaped into the wild and wander freely, causing negative impacts on native animals and plants. Tortoise populations are just a small fraction of original populations due to past harvesting and continued pressure from feral animals and remnant poaching activities by a few inhabitants.

Northern Isabela: Consists of four volcanic peaks, to 1,700 metres (5,300ft). Has never been settled and has had very little human impact since it was first formed over a million years ago. Plants and animals on this part of the island have followed their evolutionary destiny unhindered by human actions until very recently. Tortoise populations here are the largest of the Galapagos; an estimated 15,000 survive here. Until the arrival of goats, northern Isabela may have been among the last places on Earth where the dominant grazers of vegetation were large reptiles, as was the case 65 million years ago during the age of dinosaurs.

2. How and when did the goats get there?

Goats are not native to the Galapagos Islands. As is the case for most islands of the world, goats were originally dropped off by fishing or whaling fleets in past centuries as a means to ensure that fresh meat would be available to them on future trips. Would-be settlers further dispersed the goats to other islands in the archipelago.

Northern Isabela island has been goat free from the time it was first formed over one million years ago, until sometime in the mid-1970's. No one knows exactly how they got there - though it is highly likely they managed to cross the Perry Isthmus from Southern Isabela during a particularly rainy year. Scientists visiting the Perry isthmus have reported the presence of goat scat well into the rough lava fields there.

3. How many goats are there?

It is impossible to get a precise figure on the number of goats on northern Isabela. Conditions are rough and vegetation thick. The latest estimates (based on aerial and ground surveys) put the number of goats at several tens of thousands, perhaps more than 100,000 individuals with the greatest number concentrated on and around Alcedo and Darwin volcanoes, the southernmost two of the four volcanoes on this part of the island.

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