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Once again, juvenile Utila Spiny-tailed Iguanas, known as
Swampers (Ctenosaura bakeri), are ready to be released into

the wild on the Honduran island of Utila. An expedition is pre-
pared to Iron Bound, where the gravid females first surrendered
their eggs. Barely 20 months ago, the tiny Swampers squirmed
and wriggled their way out of paper-thin eggshells that were
becoming too snug. An eggtooth is a handy tool for that kind of
job. After hatching, everything was wonderfully warm — after
all, the incubators were set for 30 °C. The vermiculite was soft
and pleasantly moist — but something wasn’t right. Naturally,
the little Swampers couldn’t know that their very first impulse
upon hatching involved a genetic fixation on scrabbling up out
of a nest hole that could be as much as 40 cm deep in the sand.
Barely had the little iguanas calmed down (since nothing was
really amiss), when two large hands reached for the delicate little
creatures to weigh, measure, and mark them. They then were

placed in cages, from which half of the hatchlings were abruptly
carried off to Iron Bound to be released. A year later, a large num-
ber of the remaining iguanas were released to the wild, and only
12 remained at the Iguana Research and Breeding Station, which
is supported largely by the Zoologische Gesellschaft Frankfurt
and the Senckenbergische Naturforschende Gesellschaft.

These 12 Swampers originally were to be equipped with
microchips. However, the equipment was unavailable and the
decision was made to release the final dozen from the 2002
hatch. Of course, the 12 iguanas were weighed and measured
again, had toe-codes read, and femoral pores counted. Then they
were packed into cloth bags, resisting in vain with tooth and claw.

Iron Bound is an unspectacular stretch of coast made up of
volcanic and coral rock. The small bay with a patch of sandy
beach is shrugged off by humans as being too dangerous for swim-
ming due to the sharp-edged rocks. The Swampers, however, care

The Last Dozen
Lutz Dirksen, Director

Iguana Research and Breeding Station, Utila

IGUANA  •  VOLUME 11, NUMBER 1  •  MARCH 2004 21THE LAST DOZEN

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This healthy young male, photographed moments after release, is testament to the quality husbandry and care provided during the short captive
period. Photograph by Lutz Dirksen.



only for what lies beyond the craggy water’s edge – the sand, crit-
ical for their survival, and the mangroves that begin 100 m from
the sea. In the mangroves, Fiddler Crabs scurry underfoot trying
to reach their holes in the sand before they are flattened. This spot
is ideal for leaving the little Swampers to fend for themselves. They
have been fed regularly on mangrove leaves and Fiddler Crabs, as
these make up the bulk of their diet in the wild.

The cloth bags are untied one after another, and little heads
are followed by the bodies of the rather confused juveniles. Some
immediately dart off, but most just look around, not initially
comprehending that they are free at last — or that they now
have to find food on their own. Slowly they move off in all direc-
tions. A particularly intrepid young Swamper scales a tree, where
he seems startled at being driven away by one of his wild rela-
tives. Clearly the rules are different here than in the cages at the
Station. Here, bitter battles are fought for every scrap of good
territory and every available tree hole. No wire mesh keeps the
juvenile Swampers safe from predators. Nevertheless, they are
not as small and vulnerable as their brothers and sisters released
before them. In no time at all, the final 12 will adapt to their
lives in the mangroves.

22 IGUANA  •  VOLUME 11, NUMBER 1  •  MARCH 2004 DIRKSEN

Excited Utila Iguana Station volunteers release the iguanas where the
swamp meets sandy beach of Iron Bound.Volunteers are not funded
and pay their own expenses to participate in saving these iguanas.
Photograph by Lutz Dirksen.

The enclosures are in a natural setting and provide ample space for the
growing iguanas until they are large enough to be released into the
wild. Photograph by John Binns.

Iron Bound’s coast is lined with palm trees, sandy pockets, and rugged
volcanic and coral rock. Photograph by Lutz Dirksen.

Hatched and raised in captivity until he reached the size at which pre-
dation pressure is minimal, this young adult male Utila Iguana views
his natural home in the swamps of Utila for the first time. Photograph
by Lutz Dirksen.

If you would like to be part of this story, the Station is con-
tinually seeking new volunteers, so that the same drama
can be repeated again next year.

This release included a very special Utila Iguana named
"Buddy," who was adopted under the Utila Iguana Adoption
Program in December 2003 by John and Sue Porubek.


