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Never mind the 219 publications, the dozens of new species
described, and the unlikely places he’s been to find or redis-

cover some of the world’s rarest creatures, James “Skip” Lazell will
always be a snake dangler. It began in early childhood, when he
startled relatives with creatures thrust at them from a sock or
pocket. Ultimately, this was not “just a phase.” In man’s clothing,
Skip remains the boy who revels in disrupting the complacent
with uncomfortable surprises pulled from beneath rocks or the
recesses of his fertile mind. And this is the enthusiast who has
become an interventionist on behalf of the Rock Iguana in the
British Virgin Islands.

Skip knew his calling from the start. Joe Cadbury, Science
Teacher at Germantown Friends School, first took him seriously.
Under Cadbury’s wing, Skip began his first collections of animals
in suburban Philadelphia. In his parents’ small house, he raised
woodchucks (which subsequently colonized the neighborhood),

young bats (which he nursed through gassy colic), and uncount-
able stacks of caged amphibians and reptiles.

His family and friends were tolerant, but made him impa-
tient with what he considered sanctimonious responses to
extremely reasonable requests (e.g., May I bring home this rat-
tlesnake?). That impatience led to a lifetime commitment to tor-
ment them in every way possible (as well as any others who, as
he saw it, irrationally blocked his progress). Cadbury ran inter-
ference with his parents, assuring them that Skip’s passion for ani-
mals would later translate into scientific prowess. Meanwhile,
Skip’s live animal collection was burgeoning, and he needed
funds to support them. To this end, as an elementary schoolchild,
Skip opened an aquarium repair business. Resourcefully, the glass
he used was removed from portraits of The Venerable in the halls
of Germantown Friends. When the Headmaster questioned and
accused him, young Skip was outraged that the man had con-

120 IGUANA  •  VOLUME 11, NUMBER 2  •  JUNE 2004 MITCHELL

P R O F I L E

James D. (Skip) Lazell on Guana Island (October 2002). Photograph by John Binns.

James “Skip” Lazell
Numi Mitchell

The Conservation Agency

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IGUANA  •  VOLUME 11, NUMBER 2  •  JUNE 2004 121JAMES “SKIP” LAZELL

fronted him “without a shred of evidence.” At this point, Skip
was probably lucky that he fell under the influence of the late
Roger Conant, author of A Field Guide to Reptiles and
Amphibians of the Eastern United States. Skip so revered his work
that Conant could control Skip’s wilder side by using a strong
dose of conditional acceptance. For example, Skip was not
allowed to catch venomous snakes until Roger Conant — not his
parents — gave him permission to do so.

At 17 years of age, Skip, because of Conant’s referral, was
funded by the Philadelphia Zoo to go to the West Indies to col-
lect specimens. Here he began the biogeographical and taxo-
nomic studies of Anolis, which would later become the focus of
his doctoral work. Along the way, he so offended his major pro-
fessor, the late Ernest Williams at Harvard, with his outspoken
(and maybe impertinent) ideas on iguanine relationships that he
was dropped as a student. Years later, Williams revealed his hid-
den regard for Skip’s work by publishing the dissertation as a

Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology (MCZ) with full
color plates, and reinstating him at the Museum.

Skip has never wavered from his mission of documenting
the rare or new. Once on Saint Lucia, he rented a used car that
lost its brakes as he crested a mountain peak. He remembers only
the tumbling plummet. He was found hours later, 300 feet down
the mountainside, in a tree, clutching an iguana. His glasses,
without which he is basically blind, were gone and he was repeat-
edly mumbling, “That’s all I needed: just one iguana.” It is in the
MCZ.

After his university days, his lean wrestler’s physique gravi-
tated toward that of a sit-and-wait predator. Nevertheless, I have
seen him spring fifteen feet from a standstill to nail a Red-bellied
Watersnake on a riverbank. He is an adventurer. He tackles even
well traveled biogeographical regions of the globe like a lunar
explorer: he assumes he will find something new — and usually
does.

Skip is concerned about and enjoys people, but rarely allows
his mission to be slowed by political correctness. He has no time
for foot-dragging. One of his most controversial and ongoing
projects has involved one of the rarest West Indian iguanas,
Cyclura pinguis. Originally distributed across the entire Puerto
Rico Bank, this iguana’s range had shrunk to one peripheral pop-
ulation on Anegada. Researcher Michael Carey had noted in
1968 that the Anegada population was threatened by food com-
petition from free ranging livestock. A national park, which could
protect this last naturally occurring population, had been pro-
posed by 1980, but Skip, who was working for The Nature
Conservancy in the British Virgin Islands at the time, judged it
was a long way from becoming reality. Skip came in contact with
the owners of Guana Island, part of the iguana’s former range.
The owners, Henry and Gloria Jarecki, had established a native
wildlife sanctuary consisting of most of the 850-acre island. Skip

Even during the war years (December 1944), Skip was able to pursue
his interest in animals. Photograph by Katee Lazell.

This article about the young naturalist appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer magazine (December 1957).



saw and seized an opportunity to restore and protect C. pinguis.
He swiftly walked a proposal through government channels and
relocated eight iguanas from Anegada to Guana Island. Although
the paper trail shows that he did have both governmental per-
mission and local cooperation, the people originally involved
have since died, changed positions, or changed stories.

122 IGUANA  •  VOLUME 11, NUMBER 2  •  JUNE 2004 MITCHELL

During his brief career as a teacher, Skip graphically explained to his
students how they could be improved (March 1978). Photograph by
Nancy Nielsen.

Skip with an Hawaiian Rock Wallaby on Oahu in 1979. Photograph
by Guy Slaughter.

Skip and the “Devil” (Tasmania, 1981). Photograph by Marshall Sklar.

Collecting Haitian Boas (Epicrates striatus) for the Philadelphia Zoo
(ca. 1957). Serge Brierre is on the left. Photograph by John Coutsis.



IGUANA  •  VOLUME 11, NUMBER 2  •  JUNE 2004 123JAMES “SKIP” LAZELL

Consequently, long after the relocation, Skip still is being char-
acterized as a loose cannon or a renegade; his choice to relocate
has been questioned by almost everyone.

Undaunted, Skip has continued for almost two decades with
his program to restore C. pinguis to parts of its former range. As
a result of his efforts, Guana has a population of over 100 igua-
nas, Necker Island has approximately 30, and Norman Island
received a dozen colonizers in the fall of 2003 (I was pleased to
be a part of the latter effort). These animals, all descendants of
the eight individuals from Anegada, now represent approximately
half of the world’s population. As of 2004, local people remain
divided over a proposal to establish a national park on Anegada,

and the iguana population there continues to decline, primarily
as a consequence of livestock competition for food and feral cat
predation. Establishing a protected area on Anegada remains vital
in order to preserve as much of the species’ genetic diversity as
possible. However, unless and until that becomes a reality, we are
fortunate that the iguanas’ eggs are in more than one basket.

For the 30 plus years I have known him, Skip has generated
a “theory of the day” for everything he observes of biological
interest. If the next bit of additional data topples the idea, he
cheerfully abandons old Theory A for new Theory B. Skip is not
wedded to his postulates; they merely reflect his all-or-none
approach. As outrageous as some of his ideas may sound initially,
Skip has not infrequently been proven correct by more conser-
vative and methodical scientists. Herpetological colleague, C.
Robert Shoop, who died in late 2003, characterized Skip in the
following way: “He provides an absolutely critical function: inspi-
ration.”

Additional Reading
Lazell, J. 2003. Looking for lizards in all the right places, pp. 215–231. In:

R.W. Henderson and R. Powell (eds.), Islands and the Sea: Essays on
Herpetological Exploration in the West Indies. Society for the Study of
Amphibians and Reptiles Contributions to Herpetology, vol. 20. Ithaca,
New York.

Skip in the field on Guana Island (British Virgin Islands, 2002).
Photograph by Gad Perry.

Part of the team conducting a population census of Cyclura pinguis on
Guana Island (October 2002); left to right: Lynford Cooper, Gad
Perry, and Skip. Photograph by Kate LeVering.

Skip at day’s end during the Cyclura pinguis population assessment on Necker Island, BVI (October 2002). Photograph by John Binns.


