Caribbean Iguana Recovery Program

The Zoological Society of San Diego has been actively involved in the conservation and research of endangered Caribbean iguanas since 1992, with successive efforts focused in Cuba, Anegada, the Turks and Caicos, and most recently in the Bahamas and Lesser Antilles. All of these projects share a similar goal: securing the long-term survival of Caribbean iguana species and their threatened dry-forest ecosystems.

The Anegada and Turks and Caicos iguana projects, respectively supported by the Zoological Society since 1998 and 2000, are on-going and involve a combination of applied ecological research, education and awareness, local capacity building, and population enhancement through the establishment of headstarting or translocation programs. To date, this work has resulted in the production of Species Recovery Plans (SRPs) for Anegada and the Turks and Caicos, implementation of numerous educational initiatives (environmental awareness posters, school curriculum programs, technical training of local collaborators, etc.), significant increases in local capacity (e.g., establishment of a headstart facility in Anegada and a fully equipped research vessel in the Turks and Caicos), the release of 72 headstarted Anegada iguanas since 2003 (with an 85-percent survival rate), and the establishment of four new island populations of the Turks and Caicos iguana since 2002 (with an 95-percent adult survival rate and successful reproduction every year since translocation).

Our experience and success with these projects will be used to develop and guide other iguana projects, such as those now being undertaken by our new Conservation and Research Postdoctoral Fellow for Lesser Antillean and Northern Bahamian iguanas.

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Turks and Caicos Iguana Project
Anegada Iguana Project
Lesser Antilles Iguana Project
Bahamas Iguana Project
Animal Bytes: Iguana