Times of the Islands Spring 2021

green pages newsletter of the department of environment & coastal resources
While their numbers have increased in some areas, a
new threat to the rock iguanas has come to the Turks &
Caicos Islands in the form of a distant relative. The green
iguana Iguana iguana has already become widespread on
many other Caribbean islands where it is a serious threat
to wildlife and infrastructure.
Green iguanas are invasive in the Turks & Caicos
Islands and differ from our endemic Turks & Caicos rock
iguanas by being overall larger with much longer bodies
and tails, and usually a brighter green colour. Native to
Central and South America, they pose a serious threat
to our unique ecosystems and especially to the endemic
rock iguanas. They carry a bacterial infection that is lethal
to rock iguanas, they can cause genetic pollution to rock
iguanas by hybridization, and they can also outcompete
rock iguanas for food and resources. Unlike our rock
iguanas which breed once a year and only lay 6–8 eggs,
green iguanas breed year-round and can lay over 70 eggs
in a clutch.
Green iguanas have been sighted on Providenciales in
in Grace Bay, as well as near Venetian Road, Leeward and
South Dock and on Grand Turk around the airport and
South Base. For years the Cayman Islands have been battling
green iguanas, which severely threaten their endemic
blue rock iguana Cyclura lewisi and Little Cayman rock
iguana Cyclura nubila caymanensis. Unfortunately, the
speed at which green iguanas breed has been hard to
overcome. In 2019, over one million green iguanas were
culled in a massive conservation effort, but over 100,000
are believed to have remained, so they still outnumber
the native iguana species by 1000 times.
Green iguanas find their way into TCI mostly through
imported materials—especially live plants—from south
Florida and Hispaniola, where they are also problematically
invasive. Their eggs, laid in the loose, moist potting
mix around plant roots in nurseries in other countries,
can hatch after the plants arrive in TCI.
SAND DOLLAR IMAGES
When compared to the native TCI rock iguana, the Invasive green
iguanas have an overall longer and more slender shape, a tail much
longer than the body, and usually a bright green colour.
Times of the Islands Spring 2021 37