The tiny island where iguanas on brink of extinction are thriving

Experts say saving the rare iguanas is important to maintain biodiversity

A once-silent Caribbean islet has been transformed into a thriving sanctuary for the critically endangered Lesser Antillean iguana, where the sounds of scuttling reptiles now signal a remarkable conservation success.

Environmentalists converted Prickly Pear East Cay into a vital breeding ground, where the distinctive plopping and scurrying of iguanas are now common.

Nearly a decade ago, Prickly Pear East Cay held no trace of the Lesser Antillean iguana, or Iguana delicatissima.

With fewer than 20,000 estimated worldwide, scientists from nearby Anguilla embarked on a daring mission to save the species from extinction.

Ten iguanas were carefully transported in breathable cotton bags to the predator-free cay, a strategic move designed to foster a new breeding ground.

The initiative paid off, with the population soaring to 300. Devon Carter, a research officer with the nonprofit Anguilla National Trust, expressed local pride: "It’s something that’s ours. We don’t have lions, we don’t have elephants, but what we do have, we need to appreciate."

A Lesser Antillean iguana from Dominica undergoing a health screening in Dominica in 2021, before being translocated to Prickly Pear East, an islet off mainland Anguilla, as part of a species reintroduction program (Anguilla National Trust photo/Farah Mukhida)

This surge converted the cay into one of just five global sites where the species is making a comeback, turning the once-barren landscape into a vibrant 'love nest' for the rare reptiles.

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

A lover and foe

Indigenous people are estimated to have arrived in the eastern Caribbean roughly 7,000 years ago.

The Lesser Antillean iguanas were already there, likely having reached the islands by floating atop debris spewed by rivers that had burst their banks in South America, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

At the time, the iguanas inhabited some 10 islands, but they are now extinct on Antigua, Barbuda, St. Kitts, Nevis and St. Martin, and have largely vanished from Guadeloupe, St. Barts and Martinique, according to the Re:wild conservation group.

The green iguanas have more offspring, they are more territorial and they eat more food than the Lesser Antillean iguanas (AP)

Its biggest threat? The green, or stripe-tailed, iguana. Originally from Central and South America, it was introduced to Guadeloupe in the 1800s and then spread to other islands thanks to Hurricane Luis, which pummeled the northeast Caribbean in 1995.

The green iguanas have more offspring, they are more territorial and they eat more food than the Lesser Antillean iguanas.

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

“It really jeopardises the genetic viability,” said Isabel Curtis, a conservation officer with Anguilla National Trust. “If your genetics are diluted, your species as a whole can’t continue.”

So in 2015, scientists in Anguilla armed themselves with long poles with a noose at the end to lasso Lesser Antillean iguanas and transport them to Prickly Pear East, where there are no dogs, cats, traffic, green iguanas or other deadly threats.

Residents would call in sightings or take pictures to help with the search.

“We spent a good year looking for iguanas,” recalled Farah Mukhida, executive director of Anguilla National Trust. “It’s all done by hand.”

Life on a new island

After one year, scientists captured 23 Lesser Antillean iguanas in Anguilla, a number believed to be almost the island’s entire population of that species.

The iguanas were genetically tested to ensure they were full breeds and then the first 10 were tagged and released on nearby Prickly Pear East, Mukhida said.

Once that population seemed to adapt well to its new home, scientists released the remaining 13 iguanas.

Environmentalists converted Prickly Pear East Cay into a vital breeding ground for rare iguanas (Wikicommons)

“We were seeing babies, we were seeing their burrows where they were nesting,” Mukhida recalled. “It was really encouraging that they were breeding.”

Lesser Antillean iguanas are bright green when young but morph into a slate gray or dusty black as adults, with a lifespan of more than 20 years in the wild.

But concerns remained despite the successful breeding.

Scientists reached out to officials in the eastern Caribbean island of Dominica to obtain more female iguanas in a bid to boost the genetic diversity of the lizards procreating in Prickly Pear East. Dominica has the region's largest population of Lesser Antillean iguanas, but they too are now threatened by green iguanas that arrived after Hurricane Maria hit the region in 2017.

The petition was sent during the pandemic, so Carter and other scientists had to quarantine first before traveling to Dominica. Once there, they built homes for the captured iguanas, monitored their health and ran DNA tests to make sure they weren’t hybrid iguanas.

They fed the iguanas flowers, pumpkins and carrots, although 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 lots of breathing holes and landed in Anguilla, where they were then whisked by boat to Prickly Pear East.

Curtis said saving the Lesser Antillean iguanas is important to maintain biodiversity: “Each species has a specific function.”

They are now breeding across Prickly Pear East. It remains uninhabited but welcomes boaters to the cay’s only two restaurants, which sell barbecued chicken, ribs and lobster. Iguanas are not on the menu.