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252 IGUANA  •  VOLUME 11, NUMBER 4  •  DECEMBER 2004 IGUANA NEWSBRIEFS

Iguana Specialist Group and Fiji
National Trust Co-Sponsor

Conservation and Management Plan
Workshop for Fijian Iguanas

On 10–11 November 2004, the IUCN
SSC Iguana Specialist Group and the Fiji
National Trust co-sponsored a
Conservation and Management Plan
workshop for Fiji’s native Crested
(Brachylophus vitiensis) and Banded igua-
nas (B. fasciatus). The workshop was held
on the Laucala campus of the University
of the South Pacific, and was attended by
50 participants from both within and
outside Fiji. The purpose of the workshop
was to develop a comprehensive strategy
to guide the conservation of Fiji’s native
iguanas by identifying and prioritizing the
actions needed to ensure their future sur-
vival. For Crested Iguanas, participants
identified a series of key objectives,
including prioritization of islands most
suitable for long-term survival, imple-
mentation of a comprehensive manage-
ment plan for the Yadua Taba Crested
Iguana Sanctuary, recommendations for
field research on iguanas and their habi-
tats, development of captive breeding and
reintroduction strategies, and establish-
ment of education, awareness, and eco-
tourism programs. For Banded Iguanas,

about which much less is currently
known, participants developed a research
agenda that focuses on collection of base-
line data, genetic studies, and education
needs. Results of the workshop will be
published early next year.

Following the workshop, participants
had the opportunity to visit a traditional

Fijian village on Yadua Island, home to the
custodians of the Crested Iguana sanctu-
ary on nearby Yadua Taba. Following a
traditional sevusevu ceremony, permission
to visit the sanctuary was given, and par-
ticipants had the rare treat of viewing an
extraordinarily dense population of
Crested Iguanas in the wild. After return-

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

Rick Hudson, Co-chair of the IUCN SSC Iguana Specialist Group, with a Crested Iguana on
Yadua Taba, Fiji. Photograph by Jone Niukula.

Participants in the Conservation and Management Plan workshop for Fiji's native iguanas at the Laucala campus of the University of the South
Pacific. Photograph by Joe Burgess.



IGUANA  •  VOLUME 11, NUMBER 4  •  DECEMBER 2004 253IGUANA NEWSBRIEFS

ing to the main island of Viti Levu, the
Iguana Specialist Group met in Suva on
15 November. The meeting centered on
planning discussions for a number of key
taxa, as well as special sessions on public
relations and the media, iguana friendly
development guidelines, and funding pri-
orities for 2005.

Allison Alberts and Rick Hudson
Co-Chairs, IUCN SSC Iguana Specialist

Group

Residents of Boca Grande 
Seek to Exterminate Introduced

Spiny-tailed Iguanas

Citizens attending a meeting of the
Gasparilla Island Conservation and
Improvement Association overwhelm-
ingly favored ridding the island of the
increasingly numerous Spiny-tailed
Iguanas (Ctenosaura similis), which they
regard as no better than rats. Jerome
Jackson, a scholar at the Florida Gulf
Coast University, believes the iguanas
pose a serious threat to several endan-
gered species, consuming everything
from turtle hatchlings, mice, and native
vegetation to the eggs of Gopher
Tortoises and birds. Suggestions for
exterminating the animals included
rounding them up and selling them to
high schools for dissection or selling the
meat as an exotic delicacy and hides for
purses. Bob Janes, Lee County
Commissioner, said that no timetable
had been established, nor were cost esti-
mates or formal plans for the removal of
iguanas in place. According to one study,
iguanas on the island number around
10,000 (see also IGUANA 11(2):130).

Gopher Tortoises and Feral Iguanas
do not Compete  for Food

Ray Ashton of the Ashton Biodiversity
Research and Preservation Institute
(www.AshtonBiodiversity.org) is the
author of a forthcoming book on
Gopher Tortoises (Gopherus polyphemus).
He recently was asked whether the
increasing number of feral iguanas in
Florida poses a threat to the endangered
Gopher Tortoise by competing for the
same food plants. Ray reported that he is
frequently asked this question by indi-
viduals concerned about possible ecolog-
ical consequences of feral iguanas in

southern Florida. He further stated that
his in-depth studies on the diet of
Gopher Tortoises (in press) indicate that
the average tortoise forages on 80–165
species in a yearly cycle and that more
than 400 species of forage plants are doc-
umented in its range. Furthermore,
coastal diversity studies indicate that
about 120 species are commonly avail-
able for tortoises on Florida beach
strands. By bulk, about 80% of the diet
of tortoises (all size classes) is composed
of grasses and sedges. He concluded: “I
doubt very much that there is competi-
tion with the lizards.”

Long Island 
Reptile Museum Closed

The Long Island Reptile Museum in
Hicksville, New York went out of busi-
ness on 9 November when the unheated
building was condemned. Workers from
the Suffolk County SPCA and volunteers

from a number of rescue organizations
evacuated 182 reptiles and amphibians,
including two 6-foot alligators, a 250-
pound Aldabra Tortoise, and over a
dozen venomous snakes and lizards. The
International Fauna Society housed ani-
mals temporarily until they could be
released legally to adoptive homes.

The closure of the Museum was the
culmination of more than two years’
effort on the part of reptile rescue groups
in New York and Connecticut working
in cooperation with local police and
SPCA officials (see also IGUANA
11(1):72–73). A recent article on iguana
rescue (IGUANA 10(4):121–126)
euphemistically referred to the Museum
as the “Alternative Reptile Institution”
while describing the horrific conditions
in which iguanas had been kept. Another
19 Spiny-tailed, Rock, and Green igua-
nas still resided at the Museum until the
recent closure. All of these iguanas are
currently in rehabilitation or have been
placed in permanent adoptive homes.

Spiny-tailed Iguanas (Ctenosaura similis) are considered pests by some residents of Boca Grande.
Photograph by John Binns.

Florida Gopher Tortoise (Gopherus polyphe-
mus) diets probably are not affected by the
presence of introduced iguanas. Photograph
by Joe Burgess.

Digger, a “Cuban” Iguana rescued from the
Long Island Reptile Museum, proved to be a
hybrid Blue Iguana once he was cleaned and
examined carefully. Photograph by Carole Saucier.




