CARDS FOR CRITTERS

Buy Your Christmas Cards

10% of the Sale

Goes to Reptile Rescue

Click on the Picture for More Information

FEATURED ARTICLES

FEATURED COLUMNS

Reptile Humor

Spotlight on Rescue

Tales About Scales

By Ronald Classen

Reptile News

Privacy Statement

A SPECIAL THANK YOU

Reptile-Treasures.com would like to thank several people would worked with us to pull together this issue of the newsletter.

John Binns of the International Reptile Conservation Foundation (IRCF), who gave permission to use the blue iguana articles from the www.blueiguana.ky website and the www.cyclura.com  website.

AJ Gutman, International Iguana Society, for updating all the articles and writing the home page introduction.

Also, we would like to thank Joel Friesch for allowing us to use his cartoons in this issue.

PLEASE NOTE:

ALL ARTICLES, CARTOONS, AND PHOTOS ARE COPYRIGHTED AND MAY NOT BE REPRODUCED WITHOUT THE PERMISSION OF THE OWNER OF THE COPYRIGHT

THE CAYMAN ISLAND

BLUE IGUANA

When Hurricane Ivan hit Grand Cayman Island on Sept. 12, suddenly the notion of the Blue Iguana as the most endangered reptile species on earth took on a whole new meaning. All of us who have worked to preserve these animals sat on the edges of our seats as news emerged of the devastation wrought by torrential rains, high winds and a storm surge that left half the island submerged. Though barely a tree remains standing, the Blue Iguanas survived! The captive population, housed at the Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park in outdoor pens and cages, is alive although the surrounding area is a ruin of down trees and the facility is accessible only with extreme difficulty due to blocked roads and access trails.
 
In 2002, when it was discovered that a mere 10-20 Blue Iguanas remained in the wild, the World Conservation Union Iguana Specialist Group (IUCN-ISG) designed a recovery plan meant to reestablish a self-sustaining population of these unique giant lizards in the wild. Up to 5 feet in total length and weighing as much as 25 lbs. as adults, the species is found only on Grand Cayman. Unlike other conservation projects, which have little chance at succeeding, the Blue Iguana Recovery Program, under the dedicated leadership of Fred Burton, was actually making good progress. Eggs collected from a few breeding pairs in captivity and the few known pairs in the wild were hatched under controlled conditions and the young animals raised for two years until they are big enough to have a better chance of surviving the introduced predators (mostly dogs and cats) that originally destroyed much of the wild population.
 
Last year 84 eggs were successfully hatched, and this year, with another 100 due to hatch, an international volunteer team (Team Blue) was quickly assembled to travel to Grand Cayman this past August and build cages to house the new animals, even as some of the first group of two year-olds were due for release into the wild. Much to the surprise of all of us who participated in the project, our handiwork, even though it was located on open ground, survived the hurricane and provided sufficient protection such that only one animal was lost to drowning!
 
As physically challenging as the work was for Team Blue, it doesn’t begin to approach the work we are faced with now. John Binns, of the International Reptile Conservation Foundation (IRCF), the man who originally organized Team Blue and who has provided fund-raising and much other support for the Recovery Program, has, after a degree of misadventure, finally managed to travel to Grand Cayman, among the first relief personnel allowed on the island following the hurricane. He reports that conditions are even worse than he had imagined despite a week of intensive clean up even before he arrived. Most of the island is quite barren; the few trees that are still standing are just naked branches reaching up towards the sky. The rest have been toppled and are blocking most roads and driveways.
 
While it is still possible, with a high degree of difficulty, to feed the animals with food plants collected from the wild, the destruction of the park seriously imperils the long-term success of the project. Tourism is a primary industry for Grand Cayman and is not likely to be able to resume for many months. Part of the day-to-day operating costs of the Recovery Program come from tourist dollars and it is critical that the Captive Breeding facility be made more accessible as soon as possible.
 
Please read and enjoy the information about the Blue Iguana presented here; with an understanding and appreciation of the species’ struggle for survival, we hope you come to share in our devotion to these incredible animals.  Any and all assistance with hurricane relief is appreciated. Our current goal is to acquire an 18-inch chain saw to help remove downed trees and a generator to run power tools and keep batteries charged for cell and satellite phones. Please help us preserve the Grand Cayman Blue Iguana.
 
AJ Gutman
International Iguana Society    

You are receiving this newsletter because you requested it, you've done business with Reptile-Treasures.com in the past, you have exchanged email with the list owner, or someone has forwarded this newsletter to you.

If you wish to Unsubscribe Click Here

If you are not a subscriber but would like to be Click Here