A few words about science

In cats vs. lizards on Baltra island, cats lose:

A three-year program to eradicate feral cats, Felis catus,, from the island of Baltra in the Galapagos archipelago has achieved good results.

With the objective of reducing the negative impact produced by the cats and restore a Galapagos ecosystem, the Galapagos National Park (GNP), with technical support from the Charles Darwin Foundation (CDF), began a project with the principal objectives of eradicating cats from Baltra island, and the restoration of its natural habitat. In addition, the project guarantees the survival of a population of repatriated land iguanas Conolophus subcristatus, a species made extinct on this island in the past, partly due to the presence of feral cats.

Eradication of cats was possible for various reasons: firstly, it is an island with a very small human population and therefore with a low risk or re-introduction of cats; its size is small (26km2) which helps control and monitoring; and lastly, the vegetation is sparse, with many open areas.