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IGUANA  •  VOLUME 11, NUMBER 2  •  JUNE 2004 129IGUANA NEWSBRIEFS

Stout Iguana Conservation

Facing near extinction in the 1980s, the
Stout Iguana (Cyclura pinguis), the only
remaining natural population of which is
found on Anegada in the British Virgin
Islands, has been championed by two
groups of scientists with different strate-
gies to preserve the species. Human pop-
ulation growth and introduced animals
such as cats, dogs, and goats had deci-
mated populations which once roamed
throughout the species’ historical range
that included Puerto Rico and all of the
Virgin Islands.

A group led by Skip Lazell and
Numi Mitchell chose to relocate animals
to other predator-free islands. With the
cooperation of the BVI Ministry of
Natural Resources, an initial group of
eight animals was translocated to Guana
in 1984. It has since expanded to more
than 300 individuals. With abundant
vegetation and freed of competition, the
animals are able to flourish. Further
translocations to Necker and Norman
islands have also proven successful.

Other scientists are seeking to
restore the Stout Iguana to reasonable
numbers on Anegada itself. Since 1997,
the BVI National Parks Trust has oper-
ated a headstart facility. Iguanas could be
raised until they were large enough to be

safe from most predators. To date, 24
adult iguanas have been released back to
the wild and another 66 remain at the
facility.

Rick Hudson, co-chair of the
IUCN/SSC Iguana Specialist Group,
points out that headstarting has been
successfully used in both Cuba and
Jamaica to help preserve iguana species.
However, the underlying problems on
Anegada remain to be addressed. Feral
cats still prey on hatchling iguanas, while
wild goats and other livestock compete
for the limited available vegetation.

Long-term survival for the Stout
Iguana can only be ensured by the cre-
ation of a national park. However, the
long-standing legal quagmire of land
ownership on Anegada must first be
resolved. Historically, people on the
island survived by farming, fishing, and
raising livestock. Land ownership was
well-defined by a series of stone walls,
which contained the livestock and kept
the iguanas safe from predators. In 1961,
the crown assumed ownership of almost
all of the land and leased it to a develop-
ment company, which began by tearing
down the stone walls. Public outcry put
an end to development, but the damage
had been done. With livestock roaming
free, devouring any available vegetation,
the iguana population rapidly plum-
meted. Although creation of a national
park was approved by the Executive

Council as early as 1981, the land dis-
putes have yet to be resolved. Most
Anegadians support such a move, yet
wish to retain the right to use resources
such as wood, salt, and fish within the
park.

Condensed from an article that appeared in the
StandPoint (BVI), 18 November 2003

Iguana Farms Produce Meat

A recent article appearing in the
Christian Science Monitor described the
sale of frozen iguana meat to Central
American immigrants living in the
United States. Importer Frank
Rodriguez, an American businessman
who owns Distribuidora Cuscatlan,
imports the meat from iguana farms in
El Salvador and supplies it to 60 markets
in the Washington, D.C. area at $14 a
pound. Iguana meat has long been a sta-
ple in Central America, where it has a
reputation “as a cure-all for everything
from colds to poor sexual performance.”

Iguana hunting is prohibited in El
Salvador, where populations have been
decimated by overhunting. Farming
iguanas, argue proponents of the prac-
tice, provides much-needed jobs, helps
keep the tropical rain forests intact, and
even rebuilds wild populations as farmers
release part of their stock.

Businesses are eager to create
increased demand for their products, not

I G U A N A  N E W S B R I E F S

Skip Lazell on Guana with Cyclura pinguis.
Photograph by Gad Perry.

Anegada Headstart facility. Photograph by John Binns.



just among immigrants in the United
States, but in Asian markets, where an
interest in exotic foods is a strong tradi-
tion. Some entrepreneurs, going beyond
supplying frozen meat, are seeking to
perfect a recipe for canned iguana soup.
The Food and Drug Administration has
yet to issue a license for the sale of this
product.

Iguanas on Boca Grande

A report by Wendy Fullerton (news-
press.com, 26 April 2004) noted the
abundance of iguanas and described
some of the resultant problems faced by
residents of Boca Grande, Florida. A
community growth and development
plan being developed for the 7-mile long
resort island seeks to address iguana pop-
ulation control. The report claims that
the approximately 1,000 year-round res-
idents are outnumbered by more than 2
to 1 by the non-native Spiny-tailed
Iguanas (Ctenosaura similis). The iguanas
cause damage to both ornamental and
native vegetation and concerns have been
raised regarding their impact on native
endangered Gopher Tortoises, with
which iguanas may compete for food and
whose burrows they share during winter
cold spells.

The article described how these fear-
less climbers find their way into attics, air
conditioning ducts and dryer vents, and

are even known to plod through the
plumbing and emerge through toilets.
Residents have armed themselves with
pellet guns for protection and are ready
to stomp out these invasive pests, which
were described as being as thick as pal-
metto bugs but a lot more difficult to
kill.

Joe Wasilewski, President of the
International Iguana Society, agreed that
some intervention is necessary. However,
sensationalizing the presence of intro-
duced animals is hardly an appropriate
response, as their very presence is due to
human agency. Overstating the threat
also does little more than inflame emo-
tions, which can lead to actions that will
serve neither humans nor reptiles. A
rational control plan must be humane as
well as effective, and all responsible par-
ties should invest the time and energy to
implement a program that meets both of
those criteria.

IIS Draws Attention to 
Statian Iguanas

The Lesser Antillean Iguana (Iguana del-
icatissima) is found only on a very few
West Indian islands. Although some
populations are doing better than others,
evidence suggests that all populations are
in decline. The principal causes include
encroachment by humans on already
small ranges and limited nesting areas,
habitat degradation by introduced herbi-
vores (e.g., goats and cattle) with which
the iguanas compete, often unsuccess-
fully, for limited forage, predation by

introduced carnivores (e.g., dogs, cats,
mongooses), active hunting, and, on at
least a few islands, hybridization with
introduced Green Iguanas (Iguana
iguana).

St. Eustatius (= Statia) supports one
of the remaining populations of I. deli-
catissima. Despite relatively little devel-
opment, compared, for example, to St.
Maarten, where the population has been
extirpated, and a much smaller human
population than other islands of compa-
rable size, iguanas are not faring well (see
Iguana Times 8(1): 3–6). Although many
of the factors listed above are operative
(although I. iguana is not present on
Statia), ongoing hunting pressure may be
responsible for the inability of the popu-
lation to grow. Although some animals
persist in the rugged and largely inacces-
sible Boven Hills and a few remain on
the slopes of the Quill, an inactive vol-
cano, a number of individuals survive
within privately held properties solely at
the pleasure of the landowners.

In an effort to increase awareness of
the precarious status of Statia’s largest
native land animal, the IIS, in coopera-
tion with the St. Eustatius National Parks
Foundation (STENAPA), has funded
educational signs that will be posted at
STENAPA headquarters, the botanical
garden, all trail heads, the tourist bureau,
airport, hotels, and dive shops. In com-
bination with educational programs
planned for June of this year, the hope is
that Statians will develop a greater pride
in their natural heritage (symbolized by
the Iguana) and succeed in preserving
this unique population.

Jamaican Iguanas Get a Lift from
Down Under

Beginning with its “re-discovery” in
1990, the Jamaican Iguana has been the
subject of a recovery effort that is now in
its 15th year. Despite some notable
achievements — particularly the contin-
ued protection of known nesting sites,
the control of exotic predators, and the
establishment of a successful headstart-
and-release program — much work
remains to be done.

A chronic problem plaguing the
recovery effort in Jamaica remains the
availability of biologists willing to devote
the large blocks of field time needed to

130 IGUANA  •  VOLUME 11, NUMBER 2  •  JUNE 2004 IGUANA NEWSBRIEFS

Traditional method of preparing iguana in
southern Mexico. Photograph by Robert F.
Wilkinson.



IGUANA  •  VOLUME 11, NUMBER 2  •  JUNE 2004 131IGUANA NEWSBRIEFS

accomplish research objectives. Here, two
issues are of relevance. First, accessing the
remote field site in the central Hellshire
Hills is time consuming (over half a day
round-trip); hence, day trips and “week-
end warrior” research efforts do not pro-
vide the opportunity to conduct intensive
investigations. Second, the remoteness
and the ruggedness of the Hellshire envi-
ronment has made it difficult to recruit
personnel willing to camp out and work
for extended periods, often alone.

Fortunately, the project has recently
obtained the services of Rick van Veen
— an enthusiastic, if not maniacal,
iguana biologist. By way of Australia,
Rick passed through the Fort Worth
Zoo, where Rick Hudson nudged him
south toward Jamaica. With funding
from the Audubon Zoo and the Miami
Metrozoo, Rick joined the iguana project

in late January 2004, and within weeks
was residing in central Hellshire for a
nearly 40-day stint. With significant help
and training from John Kunna (who
returned for a 3rd consecutive field sea-
son), Rick coordinated the completion of
an 8th year of pitfall trapping, part of a
long-term assessment of the relative abun-
dance of ground reptiles on mongoose-
free versus mongoose-infested plots.

The best news for the iguana is that
Rick has proved to be especially adept at
dealing with the threat posed by intro-
duced mammals. Indeed, Rick has made
few friends among the local rats, pigs,
and mongooses. Perhaps most signifi-
cantly, Rick has rendered central
Hellshire a decidedly less pleasant and
more risky environment for feral cats —
unquestionably the most insidious threat
to the iguana’s persistence.

Byron S. Wilson
Jamaican Iguana Project

International Iguana Foundation
Announces 2004 Grants

The Board of Directors of the
International Iguana Foundation (IIF)
held their annual meeting at the Miami

Metrozoo in Florida on 3 April 2004.
The Board evaluated a total of seven pro-
posals and awarded grants totaling
$48,550 for the following five projects:

(1) Establishing a second subpopulation
of released Grand Cayman Blue
Iguanas, Cyclura lewisi. Fred Burton
(Blue Iguana Recovery Program),
$11,000.

(2) Conservation of the critically
endangered Jamaican iguana,
Cyclura collei. Peter Vogel and Byron
Wilson (Jamaican Iguana Research
and Conservation Group), $11,300.

(3) Maintaining and optimizing the
headstart release program for the
Anegada Iguana, Cyclura pinguis.
Glenn Gerber (San Diego Zoo
CRES) and Kelly Bradley (Dallas
Zoo and UTA), $11,250.

(4) Translocation, Population Surveys,
and Habitat Restoration for the
Bahamian Iguanas, Cyclura r. rileyi
and Cyclura r. cristata. William
Hayes (Loma Linda University),
$7,500.

(5) Conservation Biology and
Management of the Saint Lucian
Iguana, Iguana iguana. Matt Morton
(Durrell Wildlife Conservation
Trust) and Karen Graham (Sedgwick
County Zoo), $7,500.

Rick Hudson
IIF Program Officer

New International Iguana Foundation logo.

South Camp in the Hellshire Hills is the command center and living shelter for Byron Wilson
(shown) and Rick van Veen. Sheltered deep in the upper region, conditions are blazingly hot,
rugged, and an acid test of the researchers’ stamina. Photograph by John Binns.

Help is desperately needed 
to secure equipment for 

Byron Wilson's and 
Rick van Veen's efforts in
Hellshire Hills, Jamaica.

Please visit: 
http://cyclura.com/Jamaica.php



Species Recovery Plan Workshop
held for Anegada Iguana

In response to the need for a unified con-
servation strategy for the critically endan-
gered Anegada Iguana, Cyclura pinguis, a
Species Recovery Plan (SRP) workshop
was recently conducted at the Miami
Metrozoo on 1–2 April 2004. Workshop
participants represented the IUCN
Iguana Specialist Group (ISG) and the
National Parks Trust of the British Virgin
Islands (BVINPT) and included Joseph
Smith-Abbott (BVINPT Director),
Allison Alberts (ISG co-chair, San Diego
Zoo), John Binns (International Reptile
Conservation Foundation), Quentin
Bloxam (Durrell Wildlife Conservation
Trust), Kelly Bradley (Dallas Zoo), Fred
Burton (Blue Iguana Recovery Program),
Steve Conners (Miami Metrozoo), Rick
Hudson (ISG co-chair, Fort Worth Zoo),
and Lee Pagni (San Diego Zoo). To
insure consistency in the ISG Species
Recovery Planning process, Fred and
Quentin were brought in as facilitators.
This team previously ran successful SRP
workshops in Grand Cayman (2001),

the Dominican Republic (2002), and the
Turks & Caicos Islands (2003).

An SRP workshop had been con-
ducted in July 2001 in Tortola, but that
plan was never finalized or formally rati-

fied, and was largely out of date. Also,
although significant progress has been
made toward saving Cyclura pinguis on
Anegada, a number of “big picture”
issues were not being addressed. A coor-

132 IGUANA  •  VOLUME 11, NUMBER 2  •  JUNE 2004 IGUANA NEWSBRIEFS

Species Recovery Plan Workshop participants from the left: Kelly Bradley, Allison Alberts,
Quentin Bloxam, Lee Pagni, John Binns, Rick Hudson, Steve Conners, Joseph Smith-Abbott,
and Fred Burton.

Barking dogs announce your
arrival at my brother’s house.

Then there are the cats, birds, spi-
ders, turtles, tortoises, terrapins
and a pot-bellied pig. But even
after meeting these critters, you
still haven’t met the gentle, scaly,
fascinating creatures that were his
passion. In cages he built himself
in a large, lush yard in Jacksonville,
Fla., six Green Iguanas and three
Rock Iguanas, lounge in huge
cages filled with branches to climb,
greens to eat and shade to sleep in. 

My brother, Rob Dorson, died suddenly on May 16 of coronary artery
disease. He was 34. Besides his family - my mother, Marilyn, my father, Lee,
my husband, Sam, his life partner Lee Hanks, and me - Rob left a family of
critters, as he called them. His passion, though, was the iguanas, which had
fascinated him since he was a kid. 

When Rob and I were growing up, he had some tiny pet lizards, which
created quite a ruckus in our childhood home, particularly when one got out
of its cage and we spent days looking through the kitchen, the bathrooms,
the bedrooms, and the laundry room before it was rescued. 

Little did we know that that little lizard had started a love affair. Rob
took in animals of all kinds, from stray dogs and cats to a pig that lived at an
animal farm he had worked at to exotic birds. He was also an avid fisherman,

who enjoyed his time on the water much more than his time on land. But
in all the years he fished, my brother never ate a fish, always catch and release.
He had a soft spot for all the earth’s creatures and gave them more love and
attention than many people give their own families. 

In 2000, Rob and Lee decided to turn their passion into a business and
Creature Features, an exotic pet store in Jacksonville, was born. They started
on a shoestring and built a successful business that was also a meeting place
for friends and acquaintances that shared that special enthusiasm for four-
legged creatures. 

In the more than two years that Rob and Lee owned the store, it grew
from a business to a community, a place they used to educate as well as place
animals. Rob took every opportunity to teach customers and friends about
his animal kingdom and he always welcomed customers with a smile. 

Since closing the store, Rob and Lee dedicated their efforts to their ani-
mal family at home. Rob worked for my husband and I this last year and not
a day passed by that he didn’t regale us with a story of one of his pets. And
he was always looking for ways to make them more comfortable - in fact, a
large branch that he had hoped to use in an iguana cage still sits in my back-
yard. 

Since Rob’s death, my family has been working with the International
Iguana Society, which has started a trust fund in his name. We know that he
would have loved the idea of helping to save the reptiles that brought him so
much joy. 

Please help us keep Rob’s memory alive by making a donation to the
International Iguana Society’s Rob Dorson Trust Fund. Proceeds will bene-
fit the Blue Iguana Recovery Program on Grand Cayman.

Rob Dorson (1970 – 2004)
By Jill R. Dorson



IGUANA  •  VOLUME 11, NUMBER 2  •  JUNE 2004 133

dinated plan of action, specifically deal-
ing with local public awareness and per-
ceptions, land development plans and
protected areas, and invasive species con-
trol, was lacking. Thus, the purpose of
this workshop was to review the 2001
report and condense it into prioritized
action components. Crucially important
to this process was that each actionable
component have a time line, a potential
funding source if needed, and a point
person who would be responsible for
implementation.

The next step is for BVINPT staff
member Nancy Woodfield to compile the
document for review and publication; it
will then go to John Binns for layout and
creative design (envisioned as resembling
the Ricord’s Iguana SRP). Funds to pub-
lish a high-quality document have been
identified and a late 2004 publication
date is anticipated. This document will
prove useful on a number of fronts,
including guiding the recovery plan
process, providing accountability, height-
ening local and international awareness
for the plight of the iguana, and high-
lighting critical funding needs for grant-
ing agencies. However, the most impor-
tant immediate goal for this document is

that it be accepted and publicly ratified by
the appropriate governmental agencies in
the British Virgin Islands. This action is
vital to saving the Anegada Iguana on
Anegada, and is essential to this species’
long-term survival.

Rick Hudson
ISG Co-chair, Fort Worth Zoo

Triangle Iguana Rescue

Started over four years ago, this group of
over 70 volunteers is scattered through-
out North Carolina and has affiliates in
surrounding states. Our main foci are on
husbandry education and striving to pre-
vent neglect and abuse. Over 20 iguanas
are currently available for adoption
within our limited network of foster/
rehabilitation homes.

Since we are self-funded at this
point, individual foster homes carry the
burden of veterinary costs, food, added
utility bills, etc. We have a hard time find-
ing good adoptive homes and sometimes
end up keeping foster animals for over a
year. We have decided that rather than
taking in more iguanas and placing them
less selectively, we will only take as many

animals as we can provide with proper
care and place in truly good homes.

We do require a home visit before
leaving an iguana in a new adoptive
home, and we have an adoption con-
tract, which new owners must sign,
agreeing to keep us updated on the
iguana’s progress and health.

We can be found online at
TriangleIguanaRescue.com. Locate an
affiliate in your area in the “TIR

IGUANA  •  VOLUME 11, NUMBER 2  •  JUNE 2004 133IGUANA NEWSBRIEFS

Triangle Iguana Rescue actively promotes
responsible iguana husbandry; from left 
to right: Mark Boudreaux, Al Johnson,
Sherry Johnson, Darry Conner, Dominick
Giorgianni.



134 IGUANA  •  VOLUME 11, NUMBER 2  •  JUNE 2004

John Bendon, long-time IIS member, actively supports iguana conservation. A regular contributor to IGUANA, he frequently assists with efforts
to conserve threatened populations, most recently on Isla Mona (see p. 98). In addition, John's beautiful and anatomically accurate renderings of
iguanas have contributed greatly to many feature articles. Sales of individual prints have helped fund iguana work by John and others, and his draw-
ings have been used as chapter headers in recently published books edited by Alberts et al. (2004. Iguanas: Biology and Conservation. Reviewed in
IGUANA 11(1):60-61) and Henderson and Powell (2003. Islands and the Sea: Essays on Herpetological Exploration in the West Indies. Reviewed in
IGUANA 10(4):151-152).

John Bendon at the ISG Annual
Meeting on Grand Cayman
(November 2001). Photograph
by John Binns.

Brachylophus  
fasciatus

Cyclura
nubila
nubila

Cyclura cychlura cychlura

Brachylophus
vitiensis


