Visiting the Galapagos Islands — which have long been considered Charles Darwin’s natural laboratory — is like stepping into a nature documentary. Yet no matter how badly we want them to be, the Galapagos are not pristine. In the 2000s, the Galapagos National Park Directorate undertook a $50 million campaign to eradicate feral goats, hogs and donkeys. This, after all, is what Darwin taught us; in our ever-shifting world, trying to restore nature to a pristine state contradicts his message. We cannot predict, much less control, how these changes will shape the future of evolution in the Galapagos or elsewhere.

Source: Washington Post January 16, 2020 15:22 UTC