Isla Escudo de Veraguas is a small (4.3 km2) isolatedCaribbean island of the Republic ofPanama. Despite its name, it is not part of the province ofVeraguas, but ratherBocas del Toro. The island is located about an hour away from Rio Caña, an IndigenousNgäbe-Buglé community that is part of a recently established tourism network in Panama.
The island has 11 ha (27 acres) ofmangrove forest and 100 ha (250 acres) of coral reef with 55 types of coral. It houses over 11,000 species. Although located only 17 km from the coastline in theGolfo de los Mosquitos and isolated for only about 9000 years, several animals found on the island are distinct from their mainland counterparts, and two mammals are recognized as beingendemic to the island:a subspecies of Thomas's fruit-eating bat and thepygmy three-toed sloth. These and the worm salamanderOedipina maritima are considered to becritically endangered due to their restricted range.[1]
Other mammals found on the island includePallas's long-tongued bat,little big-eared bat,silky short-tailed bat,riparian myotis,lesser sac-winged bat, thearmored rat,[2] andDerby's woolly opossum.[3]
The island has been designated anImportant Bird Area (IBA) byBirdLife International because it supports significant populations ofwhite-crowned pigeons andrufous-tailed hummingbirds.[4]
Escudo de Veraguas is traditionally considered the birthplace of the Ngöbe–Buglé people. Until 1995 the island remained largely unpopulated, but since that time Ngöbe–Buglé fishermen from nearby coastal towns moved in, first using the island as a base for fishing parties and later settling permanently. In 2012, about 120 fishermen and their families were settled on the island.
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9°05′51″N81°33′29″W / 9.09750°N 81.55806°W /9.09750; -81.55806
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