Pix of wild iguanas in Honduras....

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Posted by John on October 30, 2000 at 21:09:00:

In the Spring of 1998, my wife and I traveled to Roatan, one of the Bay Islands off the north coast of Honduras. We had some close friends living there, and visited for two weeks.

One of my objectives on this trip was to observe and photograph iguanas in the wild, but I was soon disappointed when by the 10th day, I had seen only two juveniles.

One of our friends offered to take us to an "iguana farm" which she knew of, where she assured us we would see many iguanas. I was a little skeptical, not knowing what to expect at an "iguana farm" in Honduras. I had read the local newspaper a day before, and they had interviewed the oldest resident of Coxen Hole,(one of the larger towns). One of the interview questions was "what's your favorite dish?", and her response was "iguana stewed in coconut milk" As distasteful as this may be to us, it is a fact of life in Central America. They don't call them "tree chickens" for nothing. At any rate, you can imagine my fears as we went to the "iguana farm"

Upon our arrival, I was amazed to find that this was not a farm as you might imagine, but rather a sanctuary that one local resident ran solely for the benefit of iguanas. Apparently, as you can see from one of the album photos behind the woman in the picture, there were wire pens which held many juvenile iguanas. They were there for protection, not for marketing in any way. As soon as they were large enough, they were released into the jungle surrounding this man's house. He feeds all of the iguanas daily, so that they will stay around, and not get too far away.
As long as they are on his property, they are safe.

Some of these pix will give you an idea of how large these animals can get. Pix 18 is of a large male. He has a 4 inch apple banana in his mouth! If you look closely, you can see the teeth! They were all absolutely wonderful! Iguanas everywhere! We arrived just as they were feeding them on the patio. Check out the picture of the landowner's daughter with an iguana's tail in her hand! These animals were all calm, and would take food from your hands, but were by no means tame!

I don't know where the man gets the juveniles, and feeding so many may not be the best thing, but he was keeping the local population high, and preserving iguanas. Some of the big boys had to be many years old.

Enjoy the pix, and if anyone has questions, fire away!

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: In the Spring of 1998, my wife and I traveled to Roatan, one of the Bay Islands off the north coast of Honduras. We had some close friends living there, and visited for two weeks. : One of my objectives on this trip was to observe and photograph iguanas in the wild, but I was soon disappointed when by the 10th day, I had seen only two juveniles. : One of our friends offered to take us to an "iguana farm" which she knew of, where she assured us we would see many iguanas. I was a little skeptical, not knowing what to expect at an "iguana farm" in Honduras. I had read the local newspaper a day before, and they had interviewed the oldest resident of Coxen Hole,(one of the larger towns). One of the interview questions was "what's your favorite dish?", and her response was "iguana stewed in coconut milk" As distasteful as this may be to us, it is a fact of life in Central America. They don't call them "tree chickens" for nothing. At any rate, you can imagine my fears as we went to the "iguana farm" : Upon our arrival, I was amazed to find that this was not a farm as you might imagine, but rather a sanctuary that one local resident ran solely for the benefit of iguanas. Apparently, as you can see from one of the album photos behind the woman in the picture, there were wire pens which held many juvenile iguanas. They were there for protection, not for marketing in any way. As soon as they were large enough, they were released into the jungle surrounding this man's house. He feeds all of the iguanas daily, so that they will stay around, and not get too far away. : As long as they are on his property, they are safe. : Some of these pix will give you an idea of how large these animals can get. Pix 18 is of a large male. He has a 4 inch apple banana in his mouth! If you look closely, you can see the teeth! They were all absolutely wonderful! Iguanas everywhere! We arrived just as they were feeding them on the patio. Check out the picture of the landowner's daughter with an iguana's tail in her hand! These animals were all calm, and would take food from your hands, but were by no means tame! : I don't know where the man gets the juveniles, and feeding so many may not be the best thing, but he was keeping the local population high, and preserving iguanas. Some of the big boys had to be many years old. : Enjoy the pix, and if anyone has questions, fire away!

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