Dark Days on Galapagos
Travel Blog • Julia Ross • 02.04.08 | 10:33 AM ET
Photo by Unsettling news out of the Galapagos Islands: The BBC reports on the mysterious killing of 53 sea lions in the islands’ nature reserve. While poachers have been known to target the animals for their skin and teeth—prized ingredients in Chinese medicine—that doesn’t seem to be the case here, and park officials are at a loss to explain the slaughter. The tragedy hits the Galapagos at an uncertain time, with green groups warning that the islands’ unique ecosystem is suffering under a sharp increase in tourism.
The New York Times has reported that visits to the islands jumped 250 percent from 1990 to 2006, with fewer and fewer tourists leaving their cruise ships to support the local economy. “What we have here is an unsustainable model of development,” an official with the Charles Darwin Foundation told the Times.
Unfortunately tourists aren’t the only threat lurking in the Galapagos these days; perhaps Ecuadoran officials should consider beefing up wildlife patrols as well.