FL Press: In Bahamas, some indulge taste for dwindling igs

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Posted by Wes von Papine�u on July 09, 2002 at 11:27:58:

Hello all: Des is quite busy ... so I snuck this off of her contributions to the Baskingspot site ...

MIAMI HERALD (Florida) 07 July 02 In Bahamas, some indulge taste for dwindling iguana (Curtis Morgan)
South Andros, Bahamas: No, man, nobody eats the iguana anymore.
Rufus Saunders smiles into his taxi's rear-view mirror at the question from wildlife biologist Joe Wasilewski. The appetite for the spectacular lizards of Andros, among the largest iguanas in the world, has all but vanished with old-timers, Saunders assures him.
''But if you catch one, Joe, bring it to me,'' the taxi driver said, delivering his punch line with laughter. ``Once you've had iguana, you'll never want steak again.''
The iguana that Wasilewski has come to see is one of 17 types sprinkled across the Bahamas, Jamaica, Cuba and other islands that the World Conservation Union collectively considers ``among the most endangered of the world's lizards.''
They all face common threats. Development consumes arid forests where they dwell. Goats and cows munch native plants they feed on. Cats, dogs and hogs fatten up on eggs and young lizards.
But there is an additional concern for Andros Island iguanas. Islanders may be helping to eat them into oblivion.
Though the iguana has been protected by Bahamian law for more than 30 years, its reputation as favored Androsian fare has stubbornly persisted, said Eric Carey, wildlife conservation officer for the Bahamas' Department of Agriculture.
''I have been told by local people that they are still eating iguanas,'' Carey said, ``but we don't know what the real threats are or even how many of these animals are left.''
For the first time, researchers are making major strides toward answering many of those questions about the iguana of Andros, where razor-edged rock, thorny scrub and thirsty mosquitoes make scientific scrutiny difficult and potentially hazardous.
Some of the groundbreaking work is being done by Chuck Knapp, a conservation biologist with the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, who is conducting the first comprehensive survey here. After four years of forays into treacherous terrain, Knapp has charted declines serious enough that he intends to recommend to the conservation union that the iguana's status be downgraded from ''vulnerable'' to the more serious ``endangered.''
A population that once numbered 20,000 has dwindled to ''no more than 5,000,'' Knapp said. And that's likely an optimistic estimate based on the fact that so much of the clump of mangrove-fringed islands that make up Andros, the largest land mass in the Bahamas, remains sparsely populated, with just 8,000 people.
Still, the pressure from those few people, most living on the northern part of an island where old logging roads crisscross a prime iguana habitat, has pushed most remaining lizards to the largely unspoiled middle and south sections and cays.
''Up north,'' Knapp said, ``they're just about gone.''
That assessment applies to more than a dozen iguanas from the Bahamas to Martinique, native creatures that go back millions of years.
Isolated to small islands, they've evolved into eight separate iguana species and 16 subspecies, said Allison Albers, chief of applied conservation for the Zoological Society of San Diego and co-chair of the World Conservation Union, the group of scientists that developed a protection plan for the lizards two years ago as populations slipped toward collapse.
One, the Jamaican iguana, was actually considered extinct before a wild hog hunter's dog caught one in 1990, leading to the discovery of a wild population numbering fewer than 100. It and several other species, confined to only one or a handful of islands, are considered at critically high risk.
''Some of these iguanas are functionally extinct,'' said Wasilewski, a Homestead biologist who is president of the nonprofit International Iguana Society, formed to help protect the lizards. ``These are magnificent creatures, and we don't want to see them disappear.''
In the wild, the iguanas are mesmerizing, literally down-sized dinosaurs, and strikingly beautiful despite scaly skin and horns. The Andros iguana appears dusted in charcoal soot, a darkness offset by intensely colored splashes of coral and mustard.
Until the introduction of European exotics such as dogs and cows, they were the largest land animals on the islands -- reaching five feet in length and 20 pounds in the case of the Andros and Cuban varieties.
Until Knapp began his surveys, there had been no accurate counts and scant field studies of the Andros iguana. Little was known about nesting, aside from its habits of laying a clutch of four to 15 eggs in termite mounts.
Knapp, who is studying the iguanas as part of his doctoral work at the University of Florida, has already documented a number of previously unobserved behaviors, including one that might be considered heartwarming if the creatures weren't cold-blooded.
For about three weeks after laying eggs, females refuse to leave their nests, guarding them against other females. Despite being surrounded by humans, one iguana held her ground, repeatedly scrambling atop the crumbly soil clump where something -- snakes or crabs, perhaps -- had already eaten her eggs.
''It's just the instinct to protect,'' Knapp said.
He also intends to survey the culinary habitats of islanders, but his initial findings haven't been as rich.
Knapp found one legendary hunter, a North Andros man who goes by the name ''Old Iron,'' who still claims to fill regular orders for iguana, and Knapp has seen enough spent shotgun shells on cays to know somebody is still out there eating lizards.
But most younger people seem to offer a reflexive smirk at the suggestion.
And older folks like taxi driver Saunders and Leroy Bannister, an 85-year-old spinner of yarns and wisdom on nearby Mangrove Cay, freely admit to a past of spearing, shooting and tracking iguanas. But they also say they stopped after 1968, when the government passed a sweeping wildlife law that outlawed the killing of iguanas.
If anything, Bannister said over a cold Kalik beer in his waterside bar, the Aqua Marine Club, ``there are more iguana than ever. They're out there in the bush, but you have to know where to find them.''
Andros, of course, isn't the only island where people have eaten iguana, but biologists and Bahamian authorities believe it is one of the last islands where the is still regularly pursued. With a culture and economy largely untouched by the glitz of Nassau, a large lizard provides a ready supplement to the diet of spongers, crabbers and others who struggle to live off the sea and land.
''If they don't necessarily find a hog, which they go in search of, they'll take an iguana,'' said Sandra Buckner, an iguana authority and past president of the Bahamas National Trust, which manages the islands' national parks.
For those trying to save the iguana, there are some encouraging signs that tastes will change with time and education. Bahamian authorities have encouraged school visits by Knapp, whom locals have taken to calling ''iguana man,'' and he's printed up ''Save the Andros Iguana'' T-shirts to further spread the message.
The government, Buckner said, also has set aside land for 10 new parks this year, including five areas on Andros, and the research of Knapp and others may yet uncover populations deep in the interior.
And, as an eco-tourism industry emerges on Andros with the promise of money, many islanders seem to be coming to value the iguana in a new way, said Carey, the Bahamas wildlife conservation officer.
''People are going to be more inclined to seeing the animal alive than in the pot,'' he said.

In Bahamas, some indulge taste for dwindling iguan

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More information for anyone that's interested...... jif 07/10/02 (1)
- Very interesting indeed!!Thank you! n/m Flavia Guimaraes 07/10/02 (0)
thanks for fillin' in Wes!!! :) ... the pic of this ig is *awesome*!!!! ... iZ's mom, sighing ... 07/09/02 (0)

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: <I>Hello all: Des is quite busy ... so I snuck this off of her contributions to the Baskingspot site ...</i> : MIAMI HERALD (Florida) 07 July 02 In Bahamas, some indulge taste for dwindling iguana (Curtis Morgan) : South Andros, Bahamas: No, man, nobody eats the iguana anymore. : Rufus Saunders smiles into his taxi's rear-view mirror at the question from wildlife biologist Joe Wasilewski. The appetite for the spectacular lizards of Andros, among the largest iguanas in the world, has all but vanished with old-timers, Saunders assures him. : ''But if you catch one, Joe, bring it to me,'' the taxi driver said, delivering his punch line with laughter. ``Once you've had iguana, you'll never want steak again.'' : The iguana that Wasilewski has come to see is one of 17 types sprinkled across the Bahamas, Jamaica, Cuba and other islands that the World Conservation Union collectively considers ``among the most endangered of the world's lizards.'' : They all face common threats. Development consumes arid forests where they dwell. Goats and cows munch native plants they feed on. Cats, dogs and hogs fatten up on eggs and young lizards. : But there is an additional concern for Andros Island iguanas. Islanders may be helping to eat them into oblivion. : Though the iguana has been protected by Bahamian law for more than 30 years, its reputation as favored Androsian fare has stubbornly persisted, said Eric Carey, wildlife conservation officer for the Bahamas' Department of Agriculture. : ''I have been told by local people that they are still eating iguanas,'' Carey said, ``but we don't know what the real threats are or even how many of these animals are left.'' : For the first time, researchers are making major strides toward answering many of those questions about the iguana of Andros, where razor-edged rock, thorny scrub and thirsty mosquitoes make scientific scrutiny difficult and potentially hazardous. : Some of the groundbreaking work is being done by Chuck Knapp, a conservation biologist with the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, who is conducting the first comprehensive survey here. After four years of forays into treacherous terrain, Knapp has charted declines serious enough that he intends to recommend to the conservation union that the iguana's status be downgraded from ''vulnerable'' to the more serious ``endangered.'' : A population that once numbered 20,000 has dwindled to ''no more than 5,000,'' Knapp said. And that's likely an optimistic estimate based on the fact that so much of the clump of mangrove-fringed islands that make up Andros, the largest land mass in the Bahamas, remains sparsely populated, with just 8,000 people. : Still, the pressure from those few people, most living on the northern part of an island where old logging roads crisscross a prime iguana habitat, has pushed most remaining lizards to the largely unspoiled middle and south sections and cays. : ''Up north,'' Knapp said, ``they're just about gone.'' : That assessment applies to more than a dozen iguanas from the Bahamas to Martinique, native creatures that go back millions of years. : Isolated to small islands, they've evolved into eight separate iguana species and 16 subspecies, said Allison Albers, chief of applied conservation for the Zoological Society of San Diego and co-chair of the World Conservation Union, the group of scientists that developed a protection plan for the lizards two years ago as populations slipped toward collapse. : One, the Jamaican iguana, was actually considered extinct before a wild hog hunter's dog caught one in 1990, leading to the discovery of a wild population numbering fewer than 100. It and several other species, confined to only one or a handful of islands, are considered at critically high risk. : ''Some of these iguanas are functionally extinct,'' said Wasilewski, a Homestead biologist who is president of the nonprofit International Iguana Society, formed to help protect the lizards. ``These are magnificent creatures, and we don't want to see them disappear.'' : In the wild, the iguanas are mesmerizing, literally down-sized dinosaurs, and strikingly beautiful despite scaly skin and horns. The Andros iguana appears dusted in charcoal soot, a darkness offset by intensely colored splashes of coral and mustard. : Until the introduction of European exotics such as dogs and cows, they were the largest land animals on the islands -- reaching five feet in length and 20 pounds in the case of the Andros and Cuban varieties. : Until Knapp began his surveys, there had been no accurate counts and scant field studies of the Andros iguana. Little was known about nesting, aside from its habits of laying a clutch of four to 15 eggs in termite mounts. : Knapp, who is studying the iguanas as part of his doctoral work at the University of Florida, has already documented a number of previously unobserved behaviors, including one that might be considered heartwarming if the creatures weren't cold-blooded. : For about three weeks after laying eggs, females refuse to leave their nests, guarding them against other females. Despite being surrounded by humans, one iguana held her ground, repeatedly scrambling atop the crumbly soil clump where something -- snakes or crabs, perhaps -- had already eaten her eggs. : ''It's just the instinct to protect,'' Knapp said. : He also intends to survey the culinary habitats of islanders, but his initial findings haven't been as rich. : Knapp found one legendary hunter, a North Andros man who goes by the name ''Old Iron,'' who still claims to fill regular orders for iguana, and Knapp has seen enough spent shotgun shells on cays to know somebody is still out there eating lizards. : But most younger people seem to offer a reflexive smirk at the suggestion. : And older folks like taxi driver Saunders and Leroy Bannister, an 85-year-old spinner of yarns and wisdom on nearby Mangrove Cay, freely admit to a past of spearing, shooting and tracking iguanas. But they also say they stopped after 1968, when the government passed a sweeping wildlife law that outlawed the killing of iguanas. : If anything, Bannister said over a cold Kalik beer in his waterside bar, the Aqua Marine Club, ``there are more iguana than ever. They're out there in the bush, but you have to know where to find them.'' : Andros, of course, isn't the only island where people have eaten iguana, but biologists and Bahamian authorities believe it is one of the last islands where the <lizard> is still regularly pursued. With a culture and economy largely untouched by the glitz of Nassau, a large lizard provides a ready supplement to the diet of spongers, crabbers and others who struggle to live off the sea and land. : ''If they don't necessarily find a hog, which they go in search of, they'll take an iguana,'' said Sandra Buckner, an iguana authority and past president of the Bahamas National Trust, which manages the islands' national parks. : For those trying to save the iguana, there are some encouraging signs that tastes will change with time and education. Bahamian authorities have encouraged school visits by Knapp, whom locals have taken to calling ''iguana man,'' and he's printed up ''Save the Andros Iguana'' T-shirts to further spread the message. : The government, Buckner said, also has set aside land for 10 new parks this year, including five areas on Andros, and the research of Knapp and others may yet uncover populations deep in the interior. : And, as an eco-tourism industry emerges on Andros with the promise of money, many islanders seem to be coming to value the iguana in a new way, said Carey, the Bahamas wildlife conservation officer. : ''People are going to be more inclined to seeing the animal alive than in the pot,'' he said. :

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