Marine iguanas are the world's only sea-going lizards, uniquely adapted to the Galapagos Islands. Climate change is creating increasingly severe welfare challenges through El Nino events that devastate their food supply.
Marine iguanas experience significant welfare challenges during El Nino events - mass starvation causes prolonged suffering before death, with individuals showing visible emaciation, weakness, and inability to thermoregulate effectively. The body-shrinking adaptation is remarkable but the process involves metabolic stress and reduced physical capacity. Introduced predators cause individual suffering through attack and injury, and nest predation eliminates reproductive success. Human disturbance at basking sites forces iguanas away from thermoregulation opportunities, compromising their ability to digest food and maintain immune function. Climate change-driven intensification of El Nino events poses an existential threat to population welfare and survival.