The only lizard in the world that can live and forage at sea may now be in a fight for survival. International scientists warn black-market trafficking of Galapagos marine iguanas is peaking just as the Super El Niño decimates their natural food source.
The 2026/27 El Niño event started warming equatorial waters in May, the same month Ecuadorian officials discovered four Galapagos iguanas being kept in a home near Guayaquil. Shortly after, they found a dozen more at a nearby airport, stuffed in handbags with their limbs bound.
Another 32 were discovered tied up in small plastic containers inside a suitcase in late August. Two weeks later, the El Niño event hit 'super' status.
"Marine iguana populations already face threats from chemical spills and plastics pollution, and now this strange uptick in trafficking to supply the exotic pet trade is happening at the same time the Super El Niño is wiping out intertidal macroalgae," explains Juan José Alava, marine eco-toxicologist at Simon Fraser University and co-author of a letter published in Science .
"That macroalgae is the iguana's primary food source. They are already shrinking in size and facing mass mortality, either by starvation or by trying to swim longer distances in search of food," he says. "This species is already very vulnerable to climate change. We wrote this letter to call attention to this added threat of trafficking."
At least one confiscated iguana was found dead and several more have died from the smuggling attempts, but even those that survive face a long road home, says Alava, a leading researcher in ocean pollution and marine species of the Galapagos Islands.
There are at least 11 known subspecies, each highly evolved to survive on specific islands in the Galapagos Archipelago chain; once rescued and rehabilitated, the iguanas must be DNA-tested to figure out which island they came from so they can be safely returned, he says.
Out of the Galapagos and through the loopholes
Galapagos marine iguanas are classified as Vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, though 10 out of the 11 recognized subspecies are locally categorized as Endangered or Critically Endangered. International trade is strictly banned by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), and the species is fully protected under Ecuadorian law.
But the smuggling wasn't detected within the Galapagos Marine Reserve, which means international traffickers are finding local ways around ecological inspection checkpoints, says Alava.
Iguanas are likely pulled from shorelines and shallow waters around the Galapagos Islands while coastal fishing communities in Ecuador's main coast, for example, are facing intense economic hardship and extortion from organized crime and may feel pressured to participate in this black market.
Trafficking networks then use local logistics operators and national or international facilitators to make sure the iguanas pass through inspection points and into Ecuador, destined for exports and overseas markets in Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, and the Pacific, Alava says.
These networks obtain CITES export permits by falsely declare wild-caught Galapagos iguanas as "captive bred" in Uganda, Switzerland, Mali, and Japan—despite there being no authorized breeding facilities in these countries.
The researchers are calling on CITES to close these permitting loopholes, and for countries to strengthen oversight of the permitting system within their borders. Ecuador must also "aggressively combat and litigate organized crime and provide financial support and sustainable alternative livelihoods to coastal citizens," the researchers write.
