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Darwin’s finches are at the threshold of extinction
23/Sep/2006: Birds that played an important role in the inception of the Darwin’s theory of evolution through ‘Natural Selection’ are at the verge of extinction in the Galapagos Islands.
These birds living in the group of islands in Galapagos archipelago are closely related species of finches, popularly known as Darwin’s finches or the Galapagos finches.
Darwin collected the samples of these finches during his ‘Voyage of Beagle’. 13 species of Darwin’s finches inhabit the Galapagos Islands while one species live in the Cocos Islands.
Scientists have warned that the ‘Mangrove finch (Camarhynchus heliobates), one of the rarest species among the Darwin’s finches, is at the brink of extinction with only less than 50 pairs of birds left in this region today. Dr. Glyn Young, from the Durrell Wildlife Foundation, said that loosing a species of the Darwin’s finches would be a great loss to the scientific history. Dr. Young, the leader of the project to save the mangrove finches, added that introduction of invasive species and arrival of large number of people has affected the fragile eco-system of ‘Isobela’, an island where the population of mangrove finches was widespread, once upon a time.
With no exact figures on the actual number of mangrove finches available, this elusive bird species that was spotted by Darwin himself during his voyage, survive in just two patches of mangrove forests in the north-east coast of Isobela, the largest island in the chain. Illegal fishing and destruction of mangrove forests for firewood is having dire effects on the population of mangrove finches, which is the most isolated bird species in the world today.
Dr. Young said that the Galapagos archipelago is the workshop of evolution and it’s one of the most exotic places in earth. With other natural heavens like the Pacific Islands, Madagascar and Hawaii, which are in a complete mess due to human interference, Galapagos is our last chance to preserve an oceanic archipelago ecosystem in its pristine form. Exploding population and tourist numbers in Galapagos is having a serious effect on the ecosystem of this archipelago and if nothing is done to preserve this group of islands; we may never get to see those finches that taught evolution to Charles Robert Darwin.
Kesavan Siva
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