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Posted by desiree on August 09, 2002 at 10:44:50:
Shedd hopes lizards get blue in the face
August 9, 2002
BY NANCY MOFFETT PARKS AND MUSEUMS REPORTER
When sex is in the air, the blue iguana's head turns an electric shade of blue, but that hasn't kept the giant lizard from the brink of oblivion.
The Shedd Aquarium is hoping its three blue iguanas--of only about 120 in the world--can help improve the numbers for the world's most endangered lizard.
The iguanas can grow up to 5 feet long and 20 pounds. They live only on Grand Cayman island, and the conservation trust there recently reported that just 10 to 25 blue iguanas remain in the wild. That's down from up to 200 in 1993.
"They may be functionally extinct in five years,'' said Chuck Knapp, a conservation biologist at the Shedd who spends most of his time in the Bahamas, but is in town this week. The Shedd has one male and two female blue iguanas. "We're going to do everything we can to incite these animals to breed,'' Knapp said.
Each spring, the Shedd's male is "definitely interested,'' said Bert Vescolani, vice president of collections and education. "We've seen them breed, but for one reason or another, the eggs are not viable."
So the Shedd is studying the lizards' physiology, experimenting with light and humidity changes and with diet and vitamin supplements. There's talk of putting up mirrors to fool the male into fighting himself, perhaps triggering hormones that flow during courting wars.
On Grand Cayman, the blue iguanas have less and less living space and more and more predators. They become road kill as tourists encroach. Pigs root up their nests, and goats compete for food. Feral cats attack the hatchlings, and dogs prey on the adults.
The oldest known blue iguana is 55 years old and lives in a refuge in Grand Cayman.
Shedd Aquarium is part of a group of 10 zoos and aquariums working to diversify the iguanas' gene pool to improve their chances for survival.
The iguanas are "plummeting to extinction because of man,'' Knapp said.
To find out more about the blue iguana and how to help it survive, go to www.cyclura.com or www. sheddnet.org/index.html for information on the Shedd's annual trips to the Bahamas.
