For more information about the project, call Bonnie Edwards on the Iguana Hotline (1-345) 917-7744, or Mat Cottam at the Department of Environment (1-345) 949-8469. Mat.Cottam@gov.ky. NOTE: These phone numbers are in the Cayman Islands.

If you would like to make a donation to the project or to the Habitat Fund which is set up to purchase nesting habitat for the Sister Islands Rock Iguana- please click on either of the donation tabs below:

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This fund has been established by the National Trust for the Cayman Islands to purchase nesting habitat for the Sister Islands Rock Iguana (Cyclura nubila caymanensis) on Little Cayman.

The Sister Islands Rock Iguana is under increased threat as island wide development continues. New studies show a dramatic decline in the Little Cayman population faced with a loss of nesting and foraging habitat, skyrocketing road kills and predation by dogs and cats.

Coastal habitats, which are required by these iguanas to breed successfully, have declined sharply due to land clearing and road construction, making land purchase essential for their survival. With support from Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, field work has been carried out and the largest communal nesting site identified. This site has been targeted for purchase as a matter of urgency as it supports the largest subpopulation in the west end of the island.

Fundraising efforts are well underway and through the dedicated efforts of a small group in Little Cayman, almost half the required funds are now in hand. However, with the nesting site comprising 2.74 acres of pristine coastline, the site is very attractive to possible hotel or condo developers and is unlikely to remain on the market for very long. Recognizing the urgent need, and the fact that a great many visitors to Little Cayman are from the United States, the International Reptile Conservation Foundation (IRCF) have once again come to the assistance of the National Trust, and donations to this fund are now tax-deductible for US residents through the IRCF.

Once this purchase is completed, infrastructure and interpretative materials will be provided at the site to explain the life cycle of the iguana, its relationship with native plants and its importance to the island’s biodiversity. This will provide an enhanced nature tourism experience to the island’s visitors as well as a living classroom and educational resource for local children.

Gecko Symposium 2011

Exo Terra is proud to announce the Exo Terra Gecko Symposium, which will take place at 7:00 PM on Friday August 19th, 2011 at the Daytona Beach Hilton Hotel. This free event is sponsored by Exo Terra in conjunction with the National Reptile Breeders Expo, which is being held at the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, Florida. The symposium will feature talks from some of the world’s foremost gecko experts and published authors.

The schedule includes talks from herpetologists and authors Patrick Schönecker, Hans-Peter Berghof, Emmanuel Van Heygen (The Geckos of Madagascar, the Seychelles, Comoros and Mascarene Islands), Jon Boone, Mirko Barts (The Geckos of Southern Africa), Neil Simpson, Roland Zobel (The Geckos of Australia), Philippe de Vosjoli and Allen Repashy (The Geckos of New Caledonia).

Attendees will receive an exclusive Exo Terra Gift Bag (while supplies last). The gift bag includes a limited edition Exo Terra 2011 Gecko Symposium T-Shirt, as well as other prizes.

Read all the details and register here.

Daniel Hamilton, Blue Iguana Volunteer

As reported by authorities recently in local media, a young international volunteer with the Blue Iguana Recovery Programme passed away suddenly last Friday.

Daniel Hamilton was 21 years old. He was pursuing a Bachelor of Science Degree in Wildlife at Purdue University, Indiana. He spoke of a lifelong fascination with reptiles, and how when he first saw Blue Iguanas at an exhibit in the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, he knew he wanted to play some part in their rescue.

Daniel’s volunteer application was outstanding – he had done fieldwork with salamanders in state forests in Indiana, had learned techniques like radio tracking, tagging and navigation, and his enthusiasm sparkled in his communications as he prepared to come to Grand Cayman.

In his short time with us, Daniel launched himself wholeheartedly into the work of the Programme, first at the captive breeding facility in the QE II Botanic Park, then in the Salina Reserve inland from the Queen’s Highway, and finally in the new Reserve in Colliers, East End. There, he and two other international volunteers were preparing for this year’s release of Blue Iguanas, scheduled to take place in July.

The staff and current volunteers with the Blue Iguana Recovery Programme, and the Council and staff of the National Trust for the Cayman Islands are deeply shocked and saddened by Daniel’s unexpected passing, and extend their heart-felt sympathy and condolences to his family and friends. Thanks and recognition are also extended to the emergency services who did everything possible to save Daniel.

The community’s expressions of sympathy are sincerely appreciated. We invite anyone who wishes to send condolences to email birpvols@gmail.com , by mail to BIRP, P.O. Box 10308, Grand Cayman, KY1-1003, or post on the Blue Iguana Recovery Programme’s Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Blue-Iguana-Recovery-Programme/183865225017 , and the BIRP will arrange for these thoughts to reach Daniel’s family.

By: Eugene Bonthuys | eugene@cfp.ky
22 May, 2011
Click here to download article pdf.

The story of the Blue Iguana is one of the most uplifting environmental success stories in the world. An iconic species that was bordering on extinction in the wild was brought back from the brink thanks to the efforts of a small but dedicated team. Although the Blue is not quite out of the woods yet, things are certainly looking up for this regal creature.

However, in alarming contrast to the fortunes of the Blue Iguana, it’s cousin, the Sister Islands Rock Iguana, is sliding inexorably closer to a point where drastic intervention will be required to save it.

The Sister Islands Rock Iguana is a unique subspecies of the Cuban Rock Iguana and is found only in the Sister Islands, which makes it imperative that Cayman protects these creatures.

The Cayman Islands Department of Environment hosted a meeting recently at which the fate of the Rock Iguana was discussed in detail and those details were not very encouraging.

According to Gina Ebanks-Petrie, director of the Department of Environment, the department drew up a biodiversity action plan as part of its Darwin Project. Part of this plan was drawing up action plans for individual species and habitats in need of protection, with the rock iguana being one of these species.

“It is an evolving thing because as situations change, as we get more information, we have to change and adapt the plans. We wrote this plan around two years ago because we recognised that it was a species on the Sister Islands that needed some immediate attention,” she says.

Dwindling numbers

Although the Rock Iguana is nowhere close to being in the same position the Blue Iguana was in prior to the Blue Iguana Recovery Programme being put in place, there are signs that the species could end up in trouble. According to Fred Burton, director of the Blue Iguana Recovery Programme, a number of surveys have been conducted over the last couple of years in order to ascertain the number of Rock Iguanas remaining in Little Cayman.

“We have a very approximate current population estimate resulting from work in recent years (2007, 2008 and 2010) by Matt Goetz from the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, which suggest there are currently about 1,600 iguanas remaining on Little Cayman – at any rate, between 1,000 and 2,000 – and perhaps 60 on Cayman Brac,” he says.

Although the numbers on Cayman Brac are based on rough estimates, it is actually the bigger population on Little Cayman that is of greater concern, as it is believed that the Little Cayman population has experienced a dramatic decline over the last couple of years.

“I and others have memories of interior iguana densities on Little Cayman in the 1980s. In good iguana habitat in the interior, at the right time of day, it was normal to see three iguanas or so from any one location. Now you have to travel considerable distances through the interior before hearing one, so we have formed an impression that the interior population is now an order of magnitude lower than it used to be,” says Burton.

“The net result is that we suspect the wild population may have once been of the order of 10,000 to 20,000 and is now a tenth of that.”

However, the impression many visitors to Little Cayman get is that there are iguanas all over the Island in relative abundance. This is based on interaction with iguanas along the coast, which may not be representative of the situation.

“It is important to understand that the iguanas located on Little Cayman are not naturally distributed across the Island,” says Paul Watler, environmental programmes manager designate with the National Trust.

“They are being drawn closer to human habitations and one negative effect is the perception that the iguana population is doing well. In fact, the population is in decline and people do not realise that they see the same groups of individual iguanas in the same places over and over, and that there are not as many in wild places as would naturally be the case,” he says.

The sentiment is echoed by Burton, who said that at man-modified coastal sites like Mahogany Bay and the Little Cayman Museum it is common to see high densities of iguanas, especially where they are offered food, something strongly discouraged by the Department of Environment.

“This gives casual observers the impression that the population is thriving. But, Goetz did study these populations and what is striking is that all these high density clusters combined, represent a mere 10 per cent of the entire surviving population, at best,” says Burton.

Numerous threats

There are numerous reasons for the decline in the numbers of the rock iguana, but all of these reasons in some way link back to the development of the island.

“What we believe is happening is that the coastal clusters of iguanas in contact with people are suffering an extremely high mortality to road kills and dog attacks. We estimate at least 100 road deaths a year,” says Burton.

According to Ebanks-Petrie, the road kill situation was probably a contributing factor to the Blue Iguana coming very close to extinction as well.

“It was a long time before we built the Queen’s Highway – the road stopped at Tortuga Club, so when that portion of the road was constructed, that was the nail in the coffin of our population of blues,” she says.

The reason for the iguanas crossing the road is simple – they need to nest. As there is a lack of soil depth in the interior of the island, the iguanas nest on the beaches. And the road runs between their natural habitat in the interior and their favoured nesting sites.

“Iguanas make their homes in the shrubland of the interior, though females may migrate to the coast in order to lay their eggs in sand. As reptiles, they are naturally drawn to sunny places where they are able to bask. Roads are an unnatural addition to their habitat that they are able to utilise in this fashion,” says Watler.

On Little Cayman, the situation is aggravated by the Rock Iguanas’ rather unique communal nesting sites, which can lead to a much higher concentration of breeding females in one location.

“We knew where there were at least one of the key coastal communal nesting sites. One of the things about the Little Cayman population is that they do have these communal nesting sites,

which are extraordinary. We’ve had that site mapped now for many years. Coincidentally it is also a turtle nesting beach,” says Ebanks-Petrie.

The 100 road kills represent only one element of the rock iguana mortality on Little Cayman.

“That doesn’t include natural mortality, it doesn’t include the young that are being taking by feral animals or any accidental kill from domestic cats and dogs, so that’s only one part of the total mortality. From an animal ecology perspective that’s getting very, very dangerous. It is totally unsustainable,” says Ebanks-Petrie.

The young iguanas are especially vulnerable to predation by feral and domestic animals.

“Recruitment of young to the breeding population is being slammed by domestic and feral cats, which hunt and kill hatchling and yearling iguanas. Most big, fecund females move to the coast to nest as there are few deep soil basins inland and it is the coast where most of the cats live,” says Burton.

However, due to the desirability of the coastal territories, when the iguanas that inhabit those areas are killed due to their greater exposure to various dangers, others are quick to fill the void left.

“As their territories are ‘vacated’ in this way, iguanas move out from the interior to take up these favoured artificial spots, where they get killed in turn, and so gradually the interior population of adults gets more and more thinned out,” says Burton.

The road forward

Although the recovery programme’s work with the Blue Iguana has shown that it is possible to pull a species back from the brink of extinction, it is much easier to take preventative measure to protect the Rock Iguana.

“There is no need to get into expensive captive breeding efforts, for instance. We can get far more conservation bang for our buck by addressing the causes of the decline and letting the population recover naturally,” according to Burton.

However, one of the important pieces of the puzzle is having the right legislation in place to empower conservation authorities.

“It is going to take a concerted effort from everyone and we are going to need the proper legislative framework to allow us to put the protections in place that we need to put in place for these animals – another reason we need the National Conservation Legislation,” says Ebanks-Petrie.

One of the key element highlighted by Burton and Ebanks-Petrie is the need for measure to protect iguanas attempting to cross the road, as road kill is the major factor contributing to the rapid decline in breeding iguanas.

“Observing the island-wide 25mph speed limit would reduce the road kill enormously. Given human nature, some low profile speed bumps in the key iguana areas would also help a lot,” says Burton.

Ebanks-Petrie agreed and said that even temporary speed bumps that would just be in place in key nesting areas during the nesting period would already be a big help.

The killing of young and yearling iguanas by domestic and feral animals is another area of concern that needs to be addressed.

“Most domestic cats on Little Cayman have already been neutered and micro-chipped. This needs to be kept up, and a feral cat control effort on quite a large scale would pay huge dividends,” according to Burton.

Although cats only take younger iguanas, dogs can take iguanas that are already of breeding age.

“Enforcing the leash law for domestic dogs would prevent some very preventable killings. There aren’t many dogs on Little Cayman, and if they are all restrained or confined when at home and leashed at all other times, as the law does actually require, then we need find no more eviscerated nesting females on Little Cayman’s normally tranquil beaches,” says Burton.

One of the most important measures that can be taken in the protection of the iguanas is to protect the iguanas’ habitat. However, Ebanks-Petrie is quick to point out that any land acquisition should not be rushed into and should be backed up by solid science, as the iguanas are quite particular about their preferred locations.

“We’ve earmarked the one communal nesting site as a target for protection – we’re hoping that jointly the government and the National Trust can come up with the necessary means to protect that area, probably though acquisition.”

However, for Ebanks-Petrie, the ideal is to see the Sister Islands Rock Iguana protected in a way that would allow the iguanas to live free as they currently do.

“Little Cayman could continue to develop in a way that was sensitive to the environment, that respected the limits of the natural environment,” she says.

“We wouldn’t necessarily have to set up vast protected areas with fences for these iguanas, but the iguanas could live everywhere on Little Cayman and be protected and respected – that, to me, would be what success would look like for the Sister Islands Rock Iguanas.”

Click image to download.

Click image to download

Conservation Biology for All provides cutting-edge but basic conservation science to a global readership. A series of authoritative chapters have been written by the top names in conservation biology with the principal aim of disseminating cutting-edge conservation knowledge as widely as possible. Important topics such as balancing conversion and human needs, climate change, conservation planning, designing and analyzing conservation research, ecosystem services, endangered species management, extinctions, fire, habitat loss, and invasive species are covered. Numerous text boxes describing additional relevant material or case studies are also included.

The global biodiversity crisis is now unstoppable; what can be saved in the developing world will require an educated constituency in both the developing and developed world. Habitat loss is particularly acute in developing countries, which is of special concern because it tends to be these locations where the greatest species diversity and richest centers of endemism are to be found. Sadly, developing world conservation scientists have found it difficult to access an authoritative textbook, which is particularly ironic since it is these countries where the potential benefits of knowledge application are greatest. There is now an urgent need to educate the next generation of scientists in developing countries, so that they are in a better position to protect their natural resources.

Features

• Provides an invaluable toolkit for a large and under-resourced audience of students in developing nations
• Includes contributions from the top names in conservation biology who have contributed specific “hot topics” including tropical deforestation, invasive species, climate change, and ecosystem functioning
• Addresses the key issues in conservation biology, clearly stating the challenges but also offering solutions

Reviews

“If a book could receive a standing ovation – this one is a candidate. Sodhi and Ehrlich have created a comprehensive introduction to conservation biology that is accessible intellectually, and financially, to a broad audience – indeed it is conservation biology for all . The quality and clarity of the writing makes this book an invaluable asset to the conservationist’s toolbox.”–Ecology

“Conservation Biology for All is a textbook that aims to be a one-stop shop for conservation education. The book is packed with information, is wide ranging, and includes most emerging issues that come under the umbrella of conservation biology today. Does the book live up to its “for all” title? In it entirety it does, and I challenge any reader not to find something useful and relevant in it.“–Trends in Ecology and Evolution

About the Editors

Navjot S. Sodhi is currently a Professor of Conservation Ecology at the National University of Singapore. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Saskatchewan (Canada). He has been studying the effects of rain forest loss and degradation on Southeast Asian fauna and flora for over 13 years. He has published over 100 scientific papers in international and regional scientific journals such as Nature, Science, Trends in Ecology and Evolution, Annual Review of Ecology, Conservation Biology, Biological Conservation, and Biodiversity and Conservation. He has written/edited several books/monographs such as Tropical Conservation Biology (2007, Blackwell). He has also spent time at Harvard University as a Bullard Fellow (2001-02) and Hardy Fellow (2008-09) where he now holds an adjunct position. He currently (or has been) is an Associate Editor/Editor of prestigious journals such as Conservation Biology, Biological Conservation, Animal Conservation, the Auk and Biotropica.

Paul R. Ehrlich is Bing Professor of Population Studies and professor of biology at Stanford University and a Fellow of the Beijer Institute of Ecological Economics. His research has ranged from the evolution of DDT resistance in fruit flies, the theory of systematics, the dynamics of butterfly populations, and the behavior of birds and reef fishes to the conservation of mammal populations and human cultural evolution. He is co-founder of the field of coevolution. He is the author or co-author of over 40 books, and some 1000 scientific papers and articles. Ehrlich is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society, and past president of the American Institute of Biological Sciences, and a recipient of numerous international honors, including the Crafoord Prize (given by the Royal Swedish Academy as an explicit equivalent of a Nobel in fields where the Nobel is not given) and a MacArthur “genius award”.

Other authors

Free Access

The authors published Conservation_Biology_for_All in a free and open access format in an effort to make conservation knowledge available to as many people as possible.

The IRCF is pleased to announce its support for Zootropic’s Project Abronia to protect the severely endangered Arboreal Alligator Lizards (Abronia spp.) of Guatemala’s cloud forests. These tiny, secretive lizards are threatened by habitat destruction and degradation as well as illegal collection for the international pet trade. Project Abronia combines field research with habitat protection and restoration, captive breeding, and a comprehensive program of environmental education within the natural range of each species in order to help preserve these unique animals.

Project Abronia is in immediate need of radio-tracking equipment, captive breeding supplies, and financial support for its educational program.

• Tracking equipment: radio receivers, specialized transmitters, antennas, cables, camera, and binoculars.
• Captive Breeding supplies: Cages for Abronia, Misting system, Husbandry supplies.
• Educational Program: The educational program will present to over 10,000 students in the coming year at local schools throughout Guatemala. Funds are needed for transportation costs, presenter, educational supplies, t-shirts, and sound equipment.

Project Abronia

For those wishing to donate equipment, supplies, or help sponsor the IRCF, please contact John Binns.

IRCF’s Reptiles & Amphibians will be publishing articles on Project Abronia in one of the upcoming issues. Watch for it.


Making an online donation quick and simple, just click here

Grand Opening Invitation

We celebrated the grand opening of the Captive Breeding and Research Facility at Reserva Heloderma on 24 March. The FCA had set the date and we had a few super busy weeks getting everything ready. The facility building was completed and looked great; the enclosures were finished and we had even managed to collect some ctenosaurs to release in the enclosures on the opening day. Although it required some extra effort, especially from Gilberto, I think the event was a great success.

The proceedings started with Luis Alvarado talking about the history of the reserve. It’s impressive that it has been less than nine years since a newspaper article featuring Gilberto Salazar and a heloderm first directed Zootropic’s attention to El Arenal. Now the same place has a natural reserve with a scientific station, and moreover, the local people have changed their thinking about heloderms and nature completely. Locals where well represented among the attendees, as the project has accumulated many collaborators. There were about 40 attendees in total, which was way more than we had initially expected given how difficult it is to get there.

Next, Tono talked about the basic natural history and biology of heloderms and ctenosaurs. We brought El Mojado, Zootropic’s teaching lizard to be shown during the talk. People’s reaction when first seeing him was incredible, immediately grabbing their cameras and moving closer. People from the press were equally impressed, and El Mojado had to pose for more pictures than ever. All guests had the opportunity to see him up close and many of them even touched him. We explained that El Mojado is not an endangered Heloderma horridum charlesbogerti to avoid confusion.

After the talks, we all walked from the reserve’s entrance to the facility for the ribbon cutting ceremony. After a brief speech, the ribbon was cut by Carlos Baldetti from the FCA, Luis Castillo from Defensores de la Naturaleza, and me, representing Zootropic. Following the ceremony, we showed the research facility. Gilberto had found two snakes during the week and we were keeping them in the laboratory as examples of the reserve’s biodiversity. The huge Oxybelis fulgidus (Green Vine Snake) drew a lot of interest; the other was a Leptodrymus pulcherrimus. Both animals were due for release within a few days, after being exhibited to the next visiting student group.

Then, to make the opening something more than symbolic, we invited everyone to see the first animals released in the enclosures. We’d been quite busy the last few weeks trying to catch ctenosaurs and to have the enclosures ready for them, but we weren’t hoping for a heloderm to appear until the rainy season. Luckily, just a couple of days before the opening, CONAP (government’s wildlife administrator) donated a heloderm that had just been confiscated. So we had four ctenosaurs and one heloderm for the inauguration. Volunteers were asked to release the ctenosaurs, and Tono had the honor of putting the first heloderm in the enclosure. After leaving the animals, a snack was served at the facility and we spent a lot of time chatting with the press.

The new heloderm is supposedly a female. She was part of a registered collection but then was given illegally to a new owner. CONAP thought that the new owner could not take adequate care of her, so they decided to give her to Zootropic. Her total length is 720 mm; she looks very obese but otherwise seems to be in good health. I was in the reserve yesterday to see how she is doing. She excavated a huge burrow and is hiding there.

The ctenosaurs are hard to see in the big enclosure, but at least two were active when I went to see them, running from the ground to the top of a tree when I approached. In the end we opted for a couple of very large enclosures, taking advantage of the vegetation that is part of their natural diet and the soil in which they would normally lay their eggs. Rather than being completely enclosed, these habitats are more like fenced-off areas, which allow for a complex arrangement of vegetation, including the cacti that are their preferred retreats in the wild and would take years to grow in a new location.

In other news, we keep hearing coyotes at night and finding scat as close as 10 m from the facility. I spotted a Grey Fox the last week (first Grey Fox sighting ever for me), and they are also leaving scat close to the house. Despite the focus on getting the facilities finished, we have continued to keep a record of tree species and other data. We also equipped the house with worktables and a kitchen sink with a cabinet, and some other minor things. We have now entered a new phase, in which we’ll be able to make the best use of the new facilities and make them worth all the money and effort that’s been expended. We have student groups booked to visit in the coming weeks, and we’ll start the management plant for the reserve. In addition, I’m working on a proposal for ecological restoration of the dry forest, and some students have shown interest in doing their thesis work in the reserve. We’ve also had some undergraduate biology students express interest in volunteering in the reserve this summer.

All in all, this is proving to be a solid and fruitful beginning for our new Captive Breeding and Research Facility. Thank you to all our donors and loyal supporters.