What Is a Blue Iguana?
The blue iguana is a large, long-tailed scaly reptile exclusive to Grand Cayman Island, southwest of Cuba. A rare iguana species, its natural habitat is generally tropical dry forests and sandy shorelines. Once plentiful, this species of iguana is now considered extremely endangered. In 2002, there were only about 15 known adults in the region. Conservationists have set up captive breeding programs to give blue iguanas an opportunity to reach self-sustainable levels, but the human and pet intrusion into the Grand Caymans is making this a difficult task.
The blue iguana is a large, long-tailed scaly reptile exclusive to Grand Cayman Island, southwest of Cuba. A rare iguana species, its natural habitat is generally tropical dry forests and sandy shorelines. Once plentiful, this species of iguana is now considered extremely endangered. In 2002, there were only about 15 known adults in the region. Conservationists have set up captive breeding programs to give blue iguanas an opportunity to reach self-sustainable levels, but the human and pet intrusion into the Grand Caymans is making this a difficult task. The blue iguana is not a social animal—females and males usually live apart, except in breeding season. After breeding in the spring months, they again go their separate ways. The female blue iguana typically digs a hole in soft soil and deposits from one to two dozen eggs. After these eggs have incubated for two to three months, it typically takes several days for the baby iguanas to emerge, though these juveniles are fully-formed and
