Uninhabited Caribbean islet blossoms into love nest for critically endangered iguana

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — It was quiet in a private forest caribbean until conservationists turned it into a love nest for the critically endangered Lesser Antilles iguana.

Now, the sounds of iguanas falling to the ground and running around as they multiply make scientists smile.

“This is something that is ours,” said Devon Carter, a research associate at the nonprofit Anguilla National Trust. “We don’t have lions, we don’t have elephants, but we should appreciate what we have.”

The population of the Lesser Antilles iguana, also known as Iguana delicatissima, was zero on Prickly Pear East Cay about a decade ago.

But scientists nearby Anguilla Determined to save the species from extinction, the team placed 10 iguanas in small, breathable cotton bags and transported them to the bay by boat, free of predators, in the hope that they would breed.

And they were able to reproduce. The population has risen to 300 and continues to grow; This has made the cay one of five regions worldwide where the iguana is trying to make a comeback. It is estimated that fewer than 20,000 species remain, according to conservation groups.

“Prickly Pear East has become a beacon of hope for these magnificent lizards and proves that when we give native wildlife a chance, they know what to do,” said Jenny Daltry, Caribbean alliance director of conservation groups Fauna & Flora and Re:wild.

A lover and an enemy

It is estimated that indigenous people arrived in the Eastern Caribbean approximately 7,000 years ago.

Lesser Antilles iguanas were already there and had probably reached the islands. floating on debris It was gushed by rivers that burst their banks in South America, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

At that time, iguanas lived on about 10 islands, but they are now extinct in Antigua, Barbuda and Barbuda. St.Kitts, Nevis and St. Martin and Guadeloupe, St. Barts and St. MartiniqueAccording to conservation group Re:wild.

The biggest threat? Green or striped tailed iguana. Originally Centered and South AmericaIt was introduced to Guadeloupe in the 1800s and spread to other islands thanks to Hurricane Luis, which hit the northeastern Caribbean in 1995.

Green iguanas have more offspring, are more territorial, and eat more food than Lesser Antilles iguanas.

But the biggest problem is that both species mate with each other.

“This really compromises genetic viability,” said Isabel Curtis, a conservation officer with the Anguilla National Trust. “If your genetics are diluted, your species cannot survive as a whole.”

So in 2015, scientists in Anguilla armed themselves with long poles tipped with nooses to lasso Lesser Antilles iguanas and transport them to Prickly Pear East, where there are no dogs, cats, traffic, green iguanas or other deadly threats.

Residents would search or take photos of places they saw to aid in the search.

“We had a good year looking for iguanas,” recalled Farah Mukhida, executive director of the Anguilla National Trust. “Everything is made by hand.”

Life on a new island

A year later, scientists 23 Lesser Antilles iguanas seized in Anguilla; this number is believed to constitute almost the island’s entire population of this species.

Mukhida said the iguanas were genetically tested to make sure they were the full breed, and then the first 10 were tagged and released into nearby Prickly Pear East.

Once this population had adapted well to its new home, the scientists released the remaining 13 iguanas.

“We were seeing the babies, we were seeing the nests where they were nesting,” Mukhida recalled. “Their reproduction was really encouraging.”

Lesser Antilles iguanas are bright green when young, but turn slate gray or dusty black as adults and have a lifespan of more than 20 years in the wild.

But despite successful breeding, concerns remained.

Scientists reached out to authorities eastern Caribbean island of Dominica Obtaining more female iguanas to increase the genetic diversity of breeding lizards in the Prickly Pear East. Although Dominica has the region’s largest population of Lesser Antilles iguanas, they too are now threatened by later arrivals, green iguanas. Hurricane Maria It hit the region in 2017.

Because the petition was submitted during the pandemic, Carter and other scientists had to quarantine before traveling to Dominica. Once there, they built houses for the captured iguanas, monitored their health, and performed DNA tests to make sure they were not hybrid iguanas.

They fed the iguanas flowers, pumpkins and carrots, but some had to be hand-fed with a syringe, Carter recalled with a laugh.

“Those are the ones you remember the most,” he said, adding that he nicknamed one of them “Green.”

The captured iguanas were then flown out of Dominica in a special type of pillowcase and boxes with numerous breathing holes and landed in Anguilla, then taken by boat to Prickly Pear East.

Curtis said protecting Lesser Antilles iguanas is important to preserving biodiversity: “Each species has a specific function.”

Prickly Pears now breed in the East. It’s still deserted, but it invites boaters to the cay’s two restaurants selling barbecued chicken, ribs and lobster. Iguanas are not on the menu.

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