Goats are not a native species in the Galapagos Islands. They were abandoned in former centuries by whaler floats to ensure a fresh meat supply in the islands, and later introduced by local colonizers as livestock. Northern Isabela remained free of goats since its origins until mid 1970. It is unknown how goats arrived in this area, they may have crossed the Perry isthmus from South Isabela during an
especially rainy year, or may have escaped from fishing boats which used to keep
live goats on board as a way to provide fresh meat during long fishing journeys. In 1997 it was estimated (by air and ground studies) that there were between 100,000 and 150,000 individuals in north Isabela, in an area of around 250,000
km2.
The large herds of goats are very damaging. They:
- Cause unprecedented levels of erosion
- Eliminate the vegetation cover
- Displace the native fauna (giant tortoises, insects, etc.) from their feeding sites
- Destroy the biodiversity of northern Isabela
The Project
The Isabela Project is an initiative of the Galapagos National Park and the Charles Darwin Foundation for the Galapagos Islands, which provides scientific, technical and managing support to the project. To facilitate cooperation these institutions have signed a formal agreement for joint administration of the project.About 70% of the Isabela Project has been funded by the project "Invasive Species in the Galapagos". The rest of the funding is responsibility of the Ecuadorian government and the fund raising activities of the Charles Darwin Foundation.
Ninety-five percent of the Isabela Project staff are from Galapagos, contracted by GPN and the CDF. Staff have been trained specifically for this work and, at the moment, the group has become a highly sophisticated hunting team. They have been trained in several skills, such as Global Positioning System operation and application, hunting techniques, rifle safety and handling, training and use of dogs and first aid procedures.
Project Isabela has four phases:
- Where the density of goats is high, as is the case in many places on northern Isabela, goats are eliminated by aerial hunting by helicopter, to rapidly reducing the number of goats.
- Once density has been reduced, goats are to be hunted on land by experienced hunting teams helped by specially trained dogs. Hunters will use .223 calibre rifles with telescopic sights. These rifles are very accurate at long range. Dogs are trained in Galapagos using techniques developed in New Zealand; they have learned to track goats and shepherd them while waiting for the hunters to arrive on the scene. The dogs are trained to ignore any other animal.
- Once the number of goats has been significantly reduced by means of aerial and terrestrial hunting, the “Judas Goat” technique will be applied. This consists of putting radio collars on at least 600 goats, which are freed at several strategic places on the island. As goats are naturally gregarious, individuals with collars will look for remaining herds, thus, by radio tracking, leading the hunters to their objectives.
- The last phase is that of monitoring, to ensure that the eradication has been complete.
Current activities
In 2004, under the the project "Invasive Species in the Galapagos" aerial hunting of goats in northern Isabela began. This work was carried out systematically, dividing the area into sectors, depending on the density of vegetation and goats.This year, with a total of 796 flying hours devoted to aerial hunting, we can say that the situation in the north of the island is as follows:
- 66% of northern Isabela is at Judas goat level (feral goats cannot be found without the help of Judas goats)
- 29% of northern Isabela has low goat population densities (increased flying time is now required to locate animals)
- 5% of northern Isabela has medium population densities and requires further aerial hunting.
Source: Galapagos National Park and the Charles Darwin Foundation.