Baltra's Land Iguana Habitat
Baltra's barren, sun-scorched interior hides one of the Galápagos' most remarkable conservation comeback stories. Land iguanas — golden-yellow, dragon-like reptiles that can top a metre in length — were virtually extinct on the island by the mid-20th century, but a careful repatriation programme has restored a thriving population that now numbers in the thousands.
A species pulled back from the edge
In 1954, land iguanas were all but extinct on Baltra after decades of pressure from introduced species and human activity. The Galápagos National Park Service relocated surviving individuals to North Seymour for protection, and eventually began reintroducing their descendants back to Baltra — a programme that has since produced a population of more than 3,000 animals on the island.
Today, if you look carefully along the roadsides and scrubland between the airport and the dock, you will spot them basking on rocks or lumbering between the prickly pear cacti that are their primary food source. The island's arid vegetation — salt bushes, Palo Santo trees and Opuntia cacti — is perfectly tuned to their needs.
Palo Santo forest and arid-zone flora
Baltra's interior is dominated by Palo Santo trees, which stand silver-grey and leafless for most of the year, looking for all the world like a forest of bones. After the February rains they erupt into green almost overnight, transforming the landscape entirely within days.
The Opuntia (prickly pear) cacti are the keystone species of this ecosystem: land iguanas eat their flowers and pads, Galápagos finches probe their spines for insects, and the cactus's roots hold the thin volcanic soil together. Spotting a land iguana rearing up on its hind legs to reach a cactus pad is one of Baltra's most photogenic moments.
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