More than 300 critically endangered iguanas now live on Prickly Pear East, a tiny uninhabited islet near Anguilla. The population exists because conservationists decided the lizards needed matchmaking.
In 2016, the Anguilla National Trust moved the last 23 Lesser Antillean iguanas off Anguilla’s mainland. Prickly Pear East was chosen because it was free of invasive predators and rival iguanas.
The species has fewer than 20,000 adults worldwide and has vanished from islands like Antigua and St Kitts. Fast breeding green iguanas outcompete them and spread diseases.
To prevent inbreeding, conservationists imported 10 young iguanas from Dominica in early 2021. The reptiles were flown by small plane and released to mix with the original group.
New surveys now count more than 300 adults and adolescents on the islet. Prickly Pear East is one of only five places where the species is thriving without invasive threats.
The success has triggered a second plan on mainland Anguilla at Fountain National Park, fenced to keep out cats and green iguanas. Reintroductions are expected in 2026, with some founders coming from the island.
300 iguanas now thrive on a Caribbean matchmaking island thanks to science
Category: AnimalsPublished:
Views: 4Rating: 🌶️ 8/10
Image & Source: euronews
WeirdFeed Picks
Culture
Weirdness score:
Decades old walrus penis bone stolen from NJ bar icon
Politics
Weirdness score:
Public broadcasting board votes to shut itself down after 59 years
Society
Weirdness score:
Four hour bathroom break leads to engineer lawsuit in China
Animals
Weirdness score:
Police hunt rogue monkey after business and instruments trashed Morristown Tennessee
World
Weirdness score:
13 years later heart recipient married widow and died same way
6
Culture
Decades old walrus penis bone stolen from NJ bar icon
A walrus penis bone vanished from Donkey’s Place in Camden, New Jersey after a customer pocketed the old bar artifact, leaving staff pleading for its return.
7
Politics
Public broadcasting board votes to shut itself down after 59 years
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting voted January 5 to dissolve itself after Congress cut all funding, ending a 59 year role backing PBS and NPR nationwide.
4
Society
Four hour bathroom break leads to engineer lawsuit in China
Chinese engineer fired after 14 bathroom breaks, including one lasting four hours, sued his employer. Court sided with company, $4,200 settlement case. China
7
Animals
Police hunt rogue monkey after business and instruments trashed Morristown Tennessee
Police in Morristown Tennessee are hunting a Cinnamon Capuchin monkey after it damaged a business and instruments at a trade center at 8 a.m. Sunday.
7
World
13 years later heart recipient married widow and died same way
13 years after a heart transplant, Sonny Graham married his donor widow, ran up debts, and died by gunshot in Georgia, echoing Terry Cottle fate there