Updated Charles Darwin Research Station Site Report

The Charles Darwin Research Station is located in Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz Island. 

Me at the entrance to the research station

It was established in 1959 and is operated largely by funing from the Charles Darwin Foundation.  The station has two main goals:

1)Tortoise breeding

This program is one major component of the research station's goals.  Naturally, tortoise survival rates are not very good due to natural predators, but also, invasive species.  In order to help the tortoise populations survive, researchers collect the tortoise eggs and hatch them at the station.  These baby tortoises live the first two years of their lives in enclosures with other tortoises about their same ages.  This environment protects them and allows for them to get big enough to fend for themselves.  After their first two years, the tortoises move enclosures.  They spend the next two years in a larger enclosure with more natural landscapes.  After spending four years at the station, they are ready to be released to their native islands to live out the rest of their lives and reproduce.  With this program, there is an 85% success rate of tortoise survival which is much higher than it was prior to the reserach station's interventions.

Baby tortoise living in a natural enclosure at the research station

   

2)Education and eradication of invasive species

Invasive species have been an issue on many of the islands because they have no natural predators and therefore can override the native species.  Some invasive species that are found on many of the islands are pigs and goats.  These are species that have at one point been introduced and now the researchers' goals include removal of these invasive species to better support the native animals and plants living on the islands.  Interestingly, one piece of information we found out was that they have to remove the pigs before they remove the goats.  If this happens in reverse order, the pigs are able to hide in the grasses that grow extremely tall if the goats are not grazing and keeping them short enough to see the pigs.  

There is a famous resident living at the station known as Lonesome George.  He is between 60-90 years old and is the last living Pinta Island Tortoise.  The station is currently trying to get him to reproduce through their tortoise mating program, but so far have been unsuccessful.  Unfortunately, we did not get a very good view of Lonesome George because he was hiding under his shelter when we visited.

References:
http://www.bushheritage.org.au/reserves_Charles_Darwin