🇰🇾 Cayman Blue Iguana (Cyclura lewisi)

Grand Cayman’s largest native land animal

Blue iguanas are Grand Cayman’s most endangered species. Being large, herbivorous reptiles, they mainly feed upon natural vegetation within their shrubland forest habitat on the East End of the island.

History

The Blue Iguana once numbered in the tens of thousands but over decades the population was decimated by development, domesticated animals, vehicular traffic, and human population. By 2001, fewer than 30 individuals were estimated to remain in the wild and the species was listed as critically endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Formerly known as the Blue Iguana Recovery Programme, the initial goal of the programme was to restore a wild population of 1,000 Blue Iguanas in order to encourage a viable population in the long-term. Due to the efforts of the programme, the Blue Iguanas were downgraded from the IUCN’s “red list” to endangered in 2012. In 2018, we released our 1,000th Blue Iguana, celebrating an important milestone for the programme.

If you would like to learn more about Blue Iguana Conservation please visit the Cayman Islands National Trust for more information and ways you can help support our amazing blue dinosaurs.

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One more picture because they're so cute!😁

Coded by Meegan Slattery