21 endemic Jamaican Iguanas released to Hellshire Hills

The critically endangered reptiles made the trip from Hope Zoo by bus, boat, and backpack back to the Hellshire Hills where they originally hatched in 2015. These reptiles are the first batch to be released in 2020, as the scheduled reintroduction in March was postponed due to COVID-19 reaching Jamaica’s shores. The programme is hailed for being a crucial part of bringing the Jamaican Iguana back from extinction, with 489 iguanas released to date.

The teams from Hope Zoo Kingston and National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) started at 5:00 am packing the Jamaican Iguanas up for transport. They met the Urban Development Corporation (UDC) for a ride from the Caribbean Coastal Area Management Foundation (C-CAM Foundation) starting at the Monymusk Gun Tiller and Rod Club in Salt River, Clarendon.

The 40-minute boat journey to Manatee Bay beach camp was just the start of the journey to take the iguanas back to their natural habitat in the Hellshire Hills.

Treya-Ann Picking, environmental officer at NEPA, and the team of NEPA field rangers led the mile-and-a-half trek through swamp and dense mangroves to the dry limestone forest release sites above Manatee Bay.

The Jamaican Iguana conservation area is a part of the Portland Bight Protected Area and is owned by the corporation according to Lori-Ann Harris, UDC environmental co-ordinator.

“The Hellshire Hills is the single largest remaining contiguous dry limestone forest in the Caribbean. With our ownership we have entered into a stakeholder arrangement with various partners including NEPA, regarding the conservation of the Jamaican Iguana from the Headstart Programme at the Hope Zoo [Kingston] their release in their natural habitat, here in the Hellshire Hills,” Harris explained.

The UDC also has environmental rangers who patrol its lands in the Hellshire Hills and Goat Island.

Harris explained: “The dry limestone forest in Hellshire is the only remaining natural habitat for the Jamaican Iguana; it is the only place in the world that it can be found. We believe that years ago there might have been populations that extended to the Goat Islands and across the Hellshire Hills area.

“However, now we really have a very small population within a confined locale here, so conserving this area is paramount to ensuring the survival of the species within its natural environment,” she said at the beach camp on Manatee Bay.

That bay, along with Coquar Bay and Coleman Bay, are fish and gaming sanctuaries which enjoy collaborative protection from NEPA, UDC and the C-CAM Foundation.

FIT-AND-READY SCREENING

On Friday, October 16, a pre-release health screening was conducted by Hope Zoo’s General Curator Joey Brown, veterinarian Dr Szarianne Khan, Senior Zookeeper Jodi-Ann Blissett, along with Dr Kimberley Stephenson, biologist and lecturer from University of West Indies; Dr Simone Johnally from Jamaica Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and Treya Picking from NEPA.

The screening was also observed via Zoom by their partnering vet and research team at Fort Worth Zoo, Texas, USA. Fort Worth Zoo, along with San Diego Zoo, have been a part of the conservation programme since its initiation in the early 1990s.

Hope Zoo Kingston, which is operated by the Hope Zoo Preservation Foundation, is the recipient of a grant from the Global Environment Facility Small Grants Programme (implemented by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to support the Headstart Programme for the Jamaican Iguanas.

This is the second such grant awarded to the Hope Zoo by this grantor to support the in-situ conservation of the Jamaican Iguana.

The Hope Zoo Headstart Programme is hailed for being a crucial part of bringing the Jamaican Iguana back from extinction. Declared extinct in 1948, the Jamaican Iguana (Cyclura collei) is found nowhere else in the world. In 1990, however, it was rediscovered when a pig hunter stumbled upon a live specimen in Hellshire, which was later confirmed to be the Jamaican Iguana.

Soon after, the Jamaican Iguana Recovery Group (JIRG) initiated a species recovery plan to house the yearly iguana hatchlings from the wild at Hope Zoo for approximately five years or until they reach a suitable size to be reintroduced. This is because a majority of hatchlings and young iguanas that remain in the wild are eaten by invasive mongoose and feral cats, dogs, and pigs.

The Jamaican Iguana recovery programme is globally recognised as a modern-day conservation success story.