JOIN SCIENTISTS ON A BLUE DRAGON SAFARI

By CINDA CHAVICH

(Grand Cayman) - On an island that’s literally defined by shades of cerulean, cyan, azure and aquamarine, it’s no wonder that its endangered giant lizard is a lovely hue of blue.

Here on Grand Cayman, where the water and sky form a continuous canvass of brilliant blues in every direction, it may well be the best colour for camouflage. But it’s still rather shocking to confront a five-foot long creature that’s truly turquoise, from its scaly blue snout to the end of its spiky blue tail.

And while I’m amazed by this blue iguana’s remarkable colouring, perhaps even more astounding is The Blue Iguana Recovery Programme that’s helping to save the Grand Cayman Blue Iguana, the world’s most critically endangered lizard. From a wild population of only 25 in 2001, the mostly volunteer program has already reared and released more than 280 iguanas, here on a tiny Caribbean island, where economic and development pressures seem to favour space for warm-blooded tourists over cold-blooded wildlife.

“This is dry tropical forest – native Caribbean forest – and we’ve released 40 into this area,” says “iguana warden” Chris Carr, scanning the dry underbrush in the Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park where the program is centred, as we trudge along the trails on one of his weekly Blue Dragon Safaris.

Already, more than 280 blue iguanas have been raised in the National Trust’s Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park, graduating from the group’s two-year “head start” program and released into the wild.

In fact, earlier this year Britain’s Prince Edward (Earl of Wessex) was on the island to see some of this year’s 116 young blue iguanas released by volunteers into the Salina Reserve, a wilderness area the National Trust recently set aside for iguana habitat.

In the Botanical Park, on Grand Cayman’s quiet east end, experts like Carr are now offering weekly guided walks, to give the public a behind-the-scenes glimpse at their work.

“That’s Shy – she’s a good breeder, lays bout 10-15 eggs a year,” says Carr as we come across our first big blue, a female basking on a grassy slope. It’s breeding season, so the iguanas’ unique bright blue colouring is even more pronounced, deepening as the big, 5-foot lizards warm themselves in the sun.

“Iguanas traditionally nested on beach ridges, exactly where we now have roads, houses, dogs, cats and teenagers – all bad for iguanas,” says Carr, a former medical technician who took on the program’s only paid position after a year as a volunteer.

Weekly guided tours like this are helping to support the iguana recovery program, which is run largely by volunteers. Other schemes, including a new sponsorship program, lets anyone name and sponsor a baby lizard for $25, or one of the larger adults, for up to $1,000.

The group also welcomes volunteers for “working holidays” to help collect food for the vegetarian lizards, clean their pens, build camouflaged concrete iguana “houses,” and track individuals in the wild, says Carr.

While the breeding program has so far been very successful, it’s hit a major snag. The growing population remains endangered - to be stable the wild population must exceed 1,000. And while The National Trust has acquired some wilderness land for iguana habitat, both the Botanic Park and the Salina Reserve are reaching their maximum carrying capacity for these solitary and territorial creatures.

“The program will grind to a halt soon if we don’t get more land,” says Carr, explaining inbreeding among the carefully controlled gene pool could destroy the population without more land for iguana habitat. Over the summer Team Blue 2007, begins radio tracking the iguanas released over the past three years, to attempt to calculate how many more blue iguanas can be squeezed into the Salinas Reserve. Meanwhile, the 30-40 animals in both wild and captive areas in the Botanic Park are providing more than 80 viable eggs each year.

“By incubating them ourselves, we’ve been able to get 100 per cent to adulthood,” adds Carr, spotting a young iguana sunning itself next to the path and stopping to make notes.

“That’s Yog – yellow, orange, green,” he says referring to the three tiny coloured beads threaded through the loose skin behind the little 8-inch iguana’s head. “Yog was born last September – we use the beads to identify them, along with microchips and high resolution photographs.”

In the case of Grand Cayman’s blue iguanas, the island’s unique xerophytic shrubland ecosystem – the rocky, dry coastal areas of low shrubs and sandy nesting sites – is being paved over for hotels, condominium complexes and residential developments. Natural and manmade disasters – like the devastating Hurricane Ivan of 2004 and suspicious forest fires – add to the habitat pressures.

In the wild, iguanas and iguana eggs often fall prey to feral cats and rats, or domestic dogs, species introduced since the first settlers arrived here 300 years ago.

Today, twelve of the recognized 40 species of iguanas in the world – or 30 per cent – are critically endangered, meaning they will likely disappear without “urgent conservation intervention,” says Rick Hudson, director of the International Iguana Foundation (IGG), a non-profit scientific and conservation organization dedicated to saving these rare species.

“The difficult issue of how to protect their last home must be addressed,” it says. “It will require a combination of public support, political commitment, and substantial sums of money.

“With their home protected, the nesting areas restored, and their numbers boosted, a thousand-strong population living natural lives in their own nature reserve, is the vision we are working towards.”

IF YOU GO:

The Blue Iguana Recovery Program is centered in the Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park, the only national park on Grand Cayman Island, which is a 45-minute drive from the airport in George Town, about a $50 cab ride. The park is open to visitors daily for bird or iguana watching. You can join a guided Blue Dragon Safari every Tuesday to get a behind-the-scenes look at the breeding facilities with an expert, or simply hike the park to discover the free-roaming iguanas on your own.

The Salina Reserve is strictly a wildlife sanctuary, off limits to visitors and accessible only to scientists and researchers. To volunteer your time or support, contact them at their website, www.blueiguana.ky

(This story first appeared in the Toronto Globe and Mail)

©Cinda Chavich 2007

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