• Status: Endangered under IUCN red list criteria
• Major threats: Harvesting for consumption, habitat alteration and destruction, pet trade and lack of knowledge, management and active protection at the government level.
• Milestones: 
  • Included in CITES Appendix II as protected to combat harvest for pet trade
  • Included in the Wildlife Without Boarders program covering the Bay Islands
• What still needs to be done:
  • Baseline studies of natural history and basic biology must be finished
  • Management plan and protection
  • Long-term outreach and education programs

Roatan’s spiny tailed iguanas belong to the genus Ctenosaura, an understudied group of iguanas that has not drawn as much publicity or conservation effort as their close relatives, the highly endangered West Indian rock iguanas (genus Cyclura).  Of the 40 species of iguanine lizards, 18 belong to the genus Ctenosaura, making it the most species-rich genus in this family of large, primarily herbivorous lizards. The four species of the Ctenosaura palearis complex are some of the most endangered species within this genus. They are endemic to Honduras, including the Bay Islands and Cayos Cochinos, and Guatemala. In 2007, these four species were the focus of an IIF fund-raising campaign to drive some much-needed conservation action for this heavily persecuted and increasingly endangered group of lizards.

 

 Ctenosaura oedirhina, the Roatan spiny-tailed iguana, is listed as Endangered under the IUCN Red List due to harvesting for consumption and its limited and fragmented geographic range. In addition, C. oedirhina has just been included in CITES Appendix II due to the recent appearance of this and closely related species in the international pet trade.  The pet trade causes declines in local populations as individuals are captured from the wild and sold into international markets.  In addition, threats of hybridization and competition now exist with the discovery of a similar species being found in close proximity to Roatan.  Since very little is known about this species, no current management or conservation plan exists.  The IIF is funding research on this species to gather baseline data including basic biology, a population size estimate, extent of occurrence, and threats to this species to create a management plan as well as an outreach and education program.  By creating a management plan and an outreach and education program, we hope that the future conservation of this Endangered species and its remaining habitat can be protected.

 Thanks to a US Fish and Wildlife Service Grant through Wildlife Without Boarders, this project has now become part of a larger effort to conserve this species on Roatan as well as C. bakeri on the island of Utila, Honduras, and C. melanosterna on Cayos Cochinos, Honduras. 

 The future protection of these magnificent species can be furthered by your donation.

 Please click here to make a contribution to the IIF and help save this species and others from extinction. 

For more information on the Roatan spiny tailed iguana, please go to our species page.

Message from our research team: "Though there are great challenges that come with this project we are making real progress down here. We have discovered new and excited components of the basic biology of this species, such as an shift towards piebaldism and limb regeneration – things that have never before been shown in iguanas. Working with a variety of organizations and individuals we have also been able to change the local perception of this species into something to take pride in protecting. Grass roots protection efforts are increasing all the time and we truly feel that we will be able to see this species far into the future."

 The IIF would like to thank Mohammed bin Zayed for funding support.