Anegada Iguana, Cyclura pinguis

Thank you for all the kindness shown to yesterday's blip, still a day behind.

A good day with the group, some good cpr skills on display and each of them teaching a bystander to do compressions.
All 11 passed the first test, fingers crossed for the next.

Leona and Wilma were driving me today, and they wanted to show me some more of the special bits of the island, so we stopped off at a renovated old house that is the cultural museum. Wonderful to see history being preserved and passed down. Not necessarily big dramatic history, but the lives of people and the island.
Next was the Iguana Sanctuary. I'd caused much hilarity yesterday when I misheard Melody's thick accent and spent a couple of minutes thinking she'd told me that they release the iguanas after "they be circumsized". Eventually curiosity got the better of me and I asked why, "certain size" makes far more sense.....
Biologists reckon this Iguana to be the precursor of the Cyclura genus, ie the original Caribbean Iguana that all others are variants of. For a herbivore it's surprisingly nippy, and can grow to half a metre in length. They release them at 400g. This fellow is about 250g
People brought goats, cattle and sheep to the island which compete for plant food. But worse they brought cats, most of which are now feral and prey on the young iguanas. Hence the project to catch the young from protected nest sites, and then release them when they are large enough to stand a chance.
I spent a fascinating hour talking with Fredricke, about his work. He has established breeding programs with two zoos, but this fab little creature is now critically endangered. There are less than 300 of them alive today. A real privelidge to see.