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A
lthough the Banded Iguana
(Brachylophus fasciatus) is the most
familiar of the two species of
Brachylophus found in the South Pacific,

its status in the wild is virtually unknown. Based on
published and verbal distribution records, the
species is known to occur on 34 islands in Fiji. In
addition, it is found on four islands in Tonga and
an introduced population is established on Efate
Island in Vanuatu. Currently, this iguana is the
only Brachylophus species kept in zoos outside of
Australia and Fiji.

Banded Iguanas are still regularly reported
from many islands within Fiji, even inhabited
islands where cats are common and forest rem-
nants are few. Popular wisdom has always declared
that Banded Iguanas are easiest to find on the large
and heavily forested islands of Kadavu and Ovalau.
However, after many weeks spent on these two
islands over many years, I have yet to find a wild
Banded Iguana on either. They are certainly there;
a boy with a pet Banded Iguana can be found in
many villages. Fijians still occasionally find them on
forest paths, when they are clearing bush for new
gardens, or when high up in an Ivi or Bau tree
picking ripe, edible fruit.

In November 2000, a Portuguese bat biolo-
gist on sabbatical in Fiji, Jorge Palmeirim, con-
tacted me to say that he had seen three Banded
Iguanas is just a few hours while searching for bat
caves on a tiny limestone island in eastern Fiji.
Jorge had visited over 20 islands while working in
Fiji, and these were the only Banded Iguanas he
had seen. I was immediately excited by the possi-
bility of an island where Banded Iguanas are com-
mon, and, as I had worked with Jorge surveying
for Crested Iguanas in the Yasawa Islands earlier
that year, I knew his information was accurate.
Many Fijians and expatriates who have never seen
an iguana often refer to the common arboreal
green skink, Emoia concolour, as an “iguana.”

In September 2002, National Trust Crested
Iguana Sanctuary ranger, Pita Biciloa, and I flew to
the large inhabited island of Lakeba, 300 km east

103IGUANADecember 2003

Searching for Banded Iguanas 
in the Lau Islands, Eastern Fiji 

Peter Harlow
Taronga Zoo, Sydney

A male Banded Iguana from the island of Ovalau.



104 IGUANA Volume 10, Number 4

of Fiji’s capital, Suva. Jorge had seen the iguanas on
one of the two Aiwa islands; these are small, unin-
habited islands (total size 121 ha) separated by 50
m of deep water, that lie about 12 km southeast of
Lakeba. Like most islands in Fiji, they are owned by
a traditional Fijian clan (Mataqali), and any request
to visit must first be approved by the local regional
governmental administrator, and then permission
obtained from the head of the Mataqali.

From Lakeba, the Aiwa islands are only a short
trip by outboard motor boat. We landed first on
the tiny beach at Aiwa Levu, the island where
Jorge had seen the Banded Iguanas. We spent only
two hours there, while we waited for midtide, so
we could land on the adjacent, beachless island of
Aiwa Lailai. Our local Fijian guide, Cakacaka,
assured us that Aiwa Lailai had even more Banded
Iguanas than Aiwa Levu, so we had decided to
base our three-day survey there.

A walk around the rocky limestone island
revealed some scattered and dried iguana egg
shells and many distinctive iguana scats. I soon
spotted a female Banded Iguana in a low and
bushy Cevua Tree (Vavaea amicorunm) over-

hanging a cliff of razor sharp limestone blades,
with crashing waves below. Cevua leaves are a
favorite food for Crested Iguanas, so it seemed a
likely place to find a Banded Iguana. The boatman
soon returned from his reconnaissance of Aiwa
Lailai and was shouting at us to hurry to the boat.
As we waded out to the waiting boat, he assured
us that the tides, wave conditions, and currents
were now suitable for us to attempt a landing on
Aiwa Lailai. If we did not land within half an hour,
we would miss our chance and would have to try
again tomorrow.

At the landing site a few meters from the shore
of Aiwa Lailai, we all jumped overboard on the
orders of our boatman. Two of us held the buck-
ing and tossing boat in chest deep, choppy water,
while the other two quickly carried our gear ashore
and tossed it on top of the undercut, two- to
three-meter high limestone cliff that encircles the
island. This included a large plastic barrel of fresh
water, as both Aiwa Islands lack fresh surface
water. As the last bag of camping gear was
removed, the boatman jumped back in, started the
motor and disappeared towards the fringing reef.

A gravid female Banded Iguana from the large inhabited island of Kadavu, where occasional sightings still occur.



He promised to return in three days — if the
ocean was calm. If not, he smiled as he left, we
could survive by eating the plentiful vokai
(iguanas) and goats.

Pita and I undoubtedly looked puzzled, stand-
ing in waist-deep water under the two-meter high,
undercut cliff of razor sharp limestone that con-
fronted us. The thought of having to climb over
the limestone blades that encircle the entire island
was worrying. However, Cakacaka walked to a
nearby cut in the cliff, reached high, and pulled
down a sturdy tree trunk with convenient foot
holds cut into it. It was kept there for just this pur-
pose. Happily, we clambered up this three-meter
“ladder” and began the task of carrying our sup-
plies to a flat area at the top of the island, where
we set up camp.

Both Aiwa Islands have been heavily grazed by
goats for three or four decades and, although the
tall forest appeared mature and diverse, the forest
floor was completely open, with only an occasional
sign of undergrowth or forest regeneration.
Besides the goats, we noticed no other signs of
human interference; no indications of forest fires,
and certainly no cats or introduced rats (although
the Pacific Rat, Rattus exulans, is present). This is
an island of birds. Hours of searching that first day

revealed five species of pigeons and fruit-doves,
including the rare (and tame) West Polynesian
Ground Dove (Gallicolumba stairi), Pacific
Harriers, and Barn Owls, plus over a dozen other
bird species and just two Banded Iguanas.

Our night surveys, however, revealed a differ-
ent story. In the beam of our powerful spotlights
the bright yellow-green belly color of Banded
Iguanas causes the sleeping lizards to stand out
from the dark background vegetation. In the first
few minutes of surveying that night, we spotted
over a dozen Banded Iguanas; some as high as 18
m in the forest canopy. In three nights on Aiwa
Lailai, we counted over 200 Banded Iguanas along
our 2 km of transect lines. A wonderful result for
the first systematic survey ever.

Although not as abundant as Crested Iguanas
are in optimal forest habitat on the Crested Iguana
Sanctuary island of Yadua Taba, Aiwa Lailai
appears to support a very healthy population of
Banded Iguanas. If Aiwa Levu has a similar num-
ber of Banded Iguanas per hectare (which seems
possible, due to the similarity in vegetation and
goat grazing pressure), then these two small
islands may have a total population of 6000–8000
iguanas. Small, remote and virtually inaccessible
islands are abundant around Fiji. Their remoteness

105IGUANADecember 2003

The limestone island of Aiwa Levu, seen from the neighboring island of Aiwa Lailai.



may be their greatest asset, and hopefully will con-
tinue to keep feral animals, invasive plants, and
destructive agricultural practices away.

References
Bauer, A.M. 1988. A geological basis for some herpetofaunal dis-

junctions in the southwest Pacific, with special reference to
Vanuatu. Herpetological Journal 1:259–263.

Gibbons, J.R.H. and I.F. Watkins. 1982. Behavior, ecology, and
conservation of South Pacific Iguanas, Brachylophus, including
a newly discovered species, p. 419–441. In: G.M. Burghardt
and A.S. Rand (eds.), Iguanas of the World: Their Behavior,
Ecology, and Conservation. Noyes, New Jersey.

Harlow, P.S. and P.N. Biciloa. 2001. Abundance of the Fijian
Crested Iguana (Brachylophus vitiensis) on two islands.
Biological Conservation 98:223–231.

Zug, G. 1991. The Lizards of Fiji: Natural History and Systematics.
Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu.

106 IGUANA Volume 10, Number 4

Our local guide, Cakacaka, on Aiwa Lailai with a female
Banded Iguana easily captured with the aid of a very long
stick.

The author with a pair of Banded Iguanas captured during night transects on Aiwa Lailai.



107IGUANADecember 2003

Illustration by John Binns.




