Darwin's Galapagos tortoises are on a devastating plight: they're facing extinction! And how could this possibly be so? Basically, tourism boom means tortoise doom. Or at least in theory.

Ecuadorian officials are alarmed at discovering two foreign species (an iguana and turtle) that shouldn't be there. They are blaming this appearance of foreign species to unchecked incoming ships or planes. They say that both species are from South Africa and couldn't have gotten to the Galapagos unless they either stowed away on board or were taken to these isolated islands deliberately. And it is this isolation that makes the island group's ecology unique. The "invasion" of these foreign species threatens Galapagos wildlife (which includes more than just tortoises, but also finches and other iguanas) because they directly compete with each other over food and other matters of survival.

Now we can only hope that inspectors will be more vigilant in their duty to scour incoming planes and ships for stow-aways and that the naturalists who are seeking to perserve the local wildlife will succeed.