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Research Teams Investigate Tortoise Deaths in Galapagos |
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The National Park Service & Charles Darwin Foundation, The Galapagos National Park Service and the Charles Darwin Foundation have moved swiftly to investigate the causes of death of seven of the 3,000 giant tortoises that live on Santa Cruz Island in the Galapagos.
When reports came in early August of sick tortoises in an area known as El Chato, an expert team of park wardens, biologists and veterinarians specialising in reptiles was assembled and dispatched to the field.
Through post-mortem dissections and preliminary observation of blood and tissue samples, the team has identified intestinal nematodes and septicemia as possible causes of the deaths. Two of the veterinarians will test this provisional diagnosis by analysing the samples in their laboratories at Houston Zoo in the USA, and the University of San Francisco in Quito, Ecuador.
A third veterinarian, from the Zoological Foundation of Ecuador, is staying in Galapagos to assess the effects of treatment on three sick tortoises and to work with Park Service and Charles Darwin Research Station biologists monitoring the tortoise population in the field.
"We are confident that this disease outbreak is manageable and does not pose a significant threat to the Santa Cruz tortoise population", reported the leader of the veterinary team, Dr Joe Flanagan. Nevertheless the Galapagos National Park Service is taking a precautionary approach and has temporarily closed the affected area to visitors.
The symptoms of the sick tortoises have similarities with those observed when 21 tortoises died over a six-month period in 1996. Research Station scientists are investigating the possibility that certain climatic or other environmental conditions may provoke such outbreaks. The 1996 incident highlighted the lack of information about the health of these ancient animals, emblematic of the islands. The Charles Darwin Foundation responded by initiating a long-term study of tortoise health.
Cooperation with Ecuadorian and international veterinarians was established to provide specialist backup, training, diagnostics and emergency readiness. This preparedness made possible the swift response to the current outbreak.
"The introduction of alien diseases has caused extinctions of many island species around the world", says Research Station Director, Dr Robert Bensted-Smith, "so we must prepare ourselves to deal with such problems, whether in reptiles, birds or other native organisms. However, in this particular case it is perfectly possible that the parasite is naturally present; nematodes are common in tortoises. The important thing is that the Park Service has the situation under control and the problem appears to be a minor one, if indeed it is a problem and not just an occasional natural phenomenon."
