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216 IGUANA  •  VOLUME 13, NUMBER 3  •  SEPTEMBER 2006

As part of an effort to reawaken an awareness of pre-European culture, a Guamanian youth troupe recreates an ancient Chamorro dance.

PERRY

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IGUANA  •  VOLUME 13, NUMBER 3  •  SEPTEMBER 2006 217TRAVELOGUE

T R A V E L O G U E

In the spring of 1521, Ferdinand Magellan and his crew
became the first Europeans to see the Pacific islands we now

know as the Marianas. Magellan named Guam, Saipan, Tinian,
Rota, and a number of uninhabited islands the Islas de las Velas
Latinas (= Islands of the Lateen Sails). His crew coined the name
still sometimes used today, Islas de los Ladrones (= Islands of the
Thieves). At that time, the island’s inhabitants, the Chamorros,

had been there for several thousand years and had developed a
distinct culture and language. Concepts of personal property
among the locals apparently differed greatly from those of the
Europeans, leading to the unflattering name used by the seamen.
When Spain formally claimed the islands in 1667, an estimated
40,000–60,000 Chamorros lived there. Unappreciative of the
efforts to make them into good Catholic subjects of Spain, the

Guam and the Commonwealth of the
Northern Mariana Islands: 

Pieces of America in the far Pacific
Gad Perry

Department of Range, Wildlife, and Fisheries Management
Texas Tech University, Lubbock

Photographs by the author except where noted.

A simplified map of the western Pacific showing some important nations for orientation. Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands are in the cen-
ter, surrounded by lots of water.

JO
H

N
 B

IN
N

S

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locals resisted. Showing the Christian charity typical of the
period, the Spaniards proceeded to exterminate nearly all of
them. Today’s Chamorros are typically Catholic and carry last
names such as Cruz and Santos. Guam is now a U.S. Territory,
and the other islands form the Commonwealth of the Northern
Mariana Islands (CNMI), also a US protectorate.

Arriving in Guam’s airport, one is welcomed by a sight not very
different from many places in the U.S. or Europe. The island’s
center is highly urbanized, and contains most of the local pop-
ulation (about 100,000) and the major concentration of tourists
(some 1 million each year). However, the heat and humidity of
the Tropics (Guam is at latitude 13) immediately tell you this is
just an illusion, and, like Toto and Dorothy, you quickly realize
that you are no longer in Kansas. 

Not all of the island is as dramatically affected by humans
as the center. The southern part remains especially beautiful,
with many picturesque coves. Although little remains of the pre-
European Chamorro culture, a few archeological sites exist.
Attempts are ongoing to encourage the use of the Chamorro
language among the youth, many of whom are more comfort-
able in English, and to revive some of the cultural practices that
were likely carried out by ancient Chamorros. Much more com-
mon today are signs of the Catholicism, a backbone of modern
culture on Guam.

I first arrived on Guam in late 1995 as part of a team study-
ing the devastating effects of the Brown Treesnake (Boiga irregu-

218 IGUANA  •  VOLUME 13, NUMBER 3  •  SEPTEMBER 2006 PERRY

Latte stones, such as this one located in Inarajan, testify to the presence
of the pre-European Chamorro culture. Archeologists believe series of
these stones served as the foundations of raised houses that were safe
from occasional flooding.

A structure just outside Guam’s international airport welcomes visitors
and locals. The capital and largest city, Hagatña (formerly known as
Agaña), is in the background.

This cove near Inarajan is one of many beautiful spots in the south of
Guam.

Bellin’s 1752 map of the Mariana Islands (http://www.carto.com/
maps/02118761.jpg). Guam is shown in an inset on the bottom left.

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IGUANA  •  VOLUME 13, NUMBER 3  •  SEPTEMBER 2006 219TRAVELOGUE

laris) on the ecology of the islands. Almost immediately, I went to
assist with a project on Saipan and discovered that the disparag-
ing name dating back to Magellan’s crew still held some truth.
While we were conducting research in the forest at night, some-
one broke into both of our vehicles, the contents of the trunks
were stolen, all eight tires were slashed, and large rocks were used
to smash the windshields. Luckily, this did not set the tone for the
rest of my time in the region, which was much happier.

Typhoons, the Pacific equivalent of North Atlantic hurri-
canes, rarely get press exposure in the U.S. Strong typhoons can
leave behind extensive damage to human structures, snapping
thick concrete poles like matchsticks. The result can be weeks or
months of recovery time, during which much of the island may
lack power or water. Such powerful winds are a common feature
in the Marianas, and an important organizing feature affecting
the local ecology. Although I was off-island for Typhoon Paka, I
returned soon thereafter. I also got to experience several other
typhoons, including Keith earlier in 1997. Storm preparations
are a lot like getting ready for an impending war. One collects
food and water, makes sure plenty of batteries are available, cov-
ers all the windows with heavy metal shutters, and waits. As the
storm approaches, power is cut off to preserve the infrastructure.
Your house now lacks both air conditioning and air flow. You
are in a dark, hot, humid space. Your battery-powered radio
gives occasional updates on the progress of the storm: how close,
how fierce. You wait. When the storm hits you can hear it
through the concrete walls: torrential rains, buffeting winds, and
flying debris all hit your “shell” with a passion. You wait some
more. Eventually, it recedes and you step outside to see how
much damage has been done and to begin the process of pick-
ing up the pieces and starting life again.

This small sign is all that marks the place where Little Boy was attached
to the Enola Gay before its fateful flight to Hiroshima, Japan (http://
tourtinian.homestead.com/files/bpit.jpg).

American troops on the beach near Camel Rock. The reoccupation of Guam occurred in 1944 and was very costly. This is a Park Service placard
on Guam.

Super-typhoon Paka swept ashore in December 1997 with measured
winds of up to 380 km per hour (240 mph). The damage was exten-
sive. Here, a grove of coconuts that lost their tops in the storm. Few
trees hit this badly recovered.

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For many years, the Marianas were a sleepy backwater. The U.S.
became the landlord after the Spanish-American War of 1898,
but not much changed. Things became a lot less pleasant when
the Japanese took the islands at the beginning of World War II.
The fighting that followed when the U.S. took the islands back
near the end of the war in the Pacific was fierce, as the Japanese
were heavily fortified. One can still see some of the gun emplace-
ments. Some 80% of the structures on Guam were destroyed in
the shelling that preceded the ground offensive. The Japanese
had built large bases, especially airfields, on all the major islands
in the chain. All of them were taken back by the U.S. military
and served in the war, but the one on Tinian had an especially
important role to play. The Enola Gay, an American B-29
bomber, left from there on 6 August 1945, carrying “Little Boy,”

a U-235 bomb, to Hiroshima, Japan. Some 100,000 people
died when the bomb exploded at 08:16:02, and a similar num-

220 IGUANA  •  VOLUME 13, NUMBER 3  •  SEPTEMBER 2006 PERRY

The Brown Treesnake (Boiga irregularis) is a nocturnal tree-dweller with a broad diet. These invasive snakes have had a profound ecological and
economic impact on Guam.

Japanese tourists visit an old gun emplacement their countrymen
placed on Rota during WW II.

Pandanus, a native plant common in the Pacific, often serves as a day-
time hiding place for Brown Treesnakes.

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IGUANA  •  VOLUME 13, NUMBER 3  •  SEPTEMBER 2006 221TRAVELOGUE

Mangrove Monitors (Varanus indicus) climb well and are often encoun-
tered on trees.

The Green Tree Skink (Lamprolepis smaragdina) rarely visits the ground
and can be green, bronze, or gray. It often perches head-down on
trunks of trees.

A mating aggregation of introduced Cane Toads (Bufo marinus) takes
advantage of a puddle created by the explosive rains of the wet season.
Tadpoles develop quickly and can take advantage of even small bodies
of water. No native amphibians occur on Guam.

A medium-sized Brown Treesnake and its prey: Three introduced Tree Sparrows (Passer montanus) it had eaten before being captured. These snakes
are extremely efficient predators.

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ber were seriously injured. Today, only a small and badly-kept
marker stands at this historic location.

The snake that I came to study on Guam was accidentally intro-
duced in the aftermath of WW II, when Guam became a major
hub for U.S. military activity in the Pacific. Other invasive rep-
tiles and amphibians occur in the Marianas. Among others,
these include the Mangrove Monitor (Varanus indicus), the
Green Tree Skink (Lamprolepis smaragdina), which has been
widely introduced but never established on Guam, probably
because of snake predation, and the Cane Toad (Bufo marinus),
which has caused so much trouble in Australia. However, none
are as damaging as the Brown Treesnake. By 1980, the snake was
found island-wide, had caused the elimination of most of
Guam’s native forest birds, and had decimated other birds,
lizards, and mammals. Today, only three species of forest birds
remain on Guam, and nine are gone. Of the remaining species,
one, the Aga Crow (Corvus kubaryi), is down to five individu-
als; a single cave houses about two hundred Vanikoro Swiftlets
(Aerodramus vanikorensis); and only a few hundred Micronesian
Starlings (Aplonis opaca) remain. We have even found evidence
that the ecological damage has trickled down to impact plant
communities, many components of which have lost their polli-

nators and seed-dispersers. The snake is also responsible for fre-
quent and costly power outages and social change, including
infant envenomation and loss of culturally important species.
Species such as the Guam Rail (Gallirallus owstoni, known
locally as the “Ko’ko,” extinct in the wild) and Marianna Fruit-
bat (Pteropus tokudae, the “Fanihi,” down to about 150 individ-

222 IGUANA  •  VOLUME 13, NUMBER 3  •  SEPTEMBER 2006 PERRY

The Guam National Wildlife Refuge at Ritidian Point protects many
habitats in the hope that native species can someday be restored to help
create a functional ecosystem.

Small-scale test arenas, such as this concrete model built at the Guam
NWR, were the final testing stage for all of the snake barriers we
developed.

The largest gecko in the Marianas, this Island Gecko (Gehyra oceanica)
is rarely seen on Guam, but remains locally abundant elsewhere in the
Marianas. This animal was encountered on Saipan.

The Rock Gecko (Nactus pelagicus), an all-female ground-dwelling
species, is now rarely encountered on Guam. Their decline is almost
assuredly attributable to the Brown Treesnake.

The endemic Guam Rail (Gallirallus owstoni) used to be common on
the island. It is now extinct in the wild, but breeds well in captivity.

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IGUANA  •  VOLUME 13, NUMBER 3  •  SEPTEMBER 2006 223TRAVELOGUE

uals) had high social importance in the life-style of the
Chamorros. Unfortunately, the Brown Treesnake is also an
accomplished disperser. Stowing away on ships and airplanes,
snakes have already reached other Micronesian islands, Hawaii,
Texas, and even Spain. Recognizing the potential impact and
danger to other locations, Congress in 1990 made the Brown
Treesnake the only terrestrial organism controlled under the
Non-indigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act.

I was based at the Guam National Wildlife Refuge, located
at Ritidian Point in the northern end of Guam. This is the only
area on the island designated and consistently managed for con-
servation. Part of my job was to develop barriers that could be used
to block the dispersal of snakes from Guam. This is the kind of
work that is not very exciting to a herpetologist: more technology
development than chasing animals. Worse, the technology/biol-
ogy part is by far the easier element in this equation. We developed
three types of barriers that showed great efficacy in various kinds
of testing. Several of these are currently in use on Guam and else-
where, helping protect some of the native species such as the Rock
Gecko (Nactus pelagicus) and the Island Gecko (Gehyra oceanica).
Perhaps most gratifying, use of barriers made possible the release
of captive Guam Rails into a protected native forest area, where
they bred for the first time in two decades. Still, policy adoption
has lagged behind the availability of the tools, and many places
remain less protected than they could be because the funds to
build barriers have yet to be allocated.

The future of the Marianas is uncertain. Much of the
CNMI economy has rested on the ability of sweatshops to
cheaply produce garments with a “Made in USA” label.
Traveling around the CNMI, one can see high walls crowned
with barbed wire where workers from other countries labor,
often in abject conditions. The garment industry has effectively
convinced members of Congress, using the usual free trips, to
continue supporting the practice, but this will surely not con-
tinue forever. Tourism is a strong basis of the economy, and one
that is again lucrative now that Asian economies have recovered
from their slump of a few years ago. However, the biggest
unknown is the U.S. military, which controls much of Guam’s
area and is a major source of income for both it and the CNMI.
The “Voice of America” reported in August 2006 that the mili-
tary plans to enhance its presence on Guam. The Pacific Daily
News, Guam’s newspaper, reported that thousands of soldiers
currently based on Okinawa soon will be moving to Guam.
Some talk has stationed the U.S.S. Carl Vinson, a nuclear-pow-
ered aircraft carrier, on Guam. Such actions are expected to
pump billions of dollars into the local economy, but must come
at the cost of native habitats. Moreover, North Korea is repeat-
edly mentioned in such stories, and I cannot help but wonder
what such talk does for the tourist industry. Finally, will the
increased traffic associated with this economic expansion result
in greater opportunities for Brown Treesnakes to leave Guam, or
bring additional species to the region? Only time will tell. 

A 1.5 m (4 ft) Brown Treesnake hiding in the wheelwell of an airplane about to depart Guam. The snake was located by the pilot during a pre-
flight check and was removed by the author.

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