Cyclura pinguis

Anegada
Rock Iguana

Stats

IUCN Status: Critically Endangered
Range: British Virgin Islands
Population: about 550-600
Size: Males up to 22” in length from snout to vent, with a longer tail
Threats: Predation by feral domestic cats and dogs; Habitat degradation from free-ranging cattle, donkeys, and goats that trample nest sites and severely overgraze native vegetation; Land clearing.

Species information

  • The Anegada Iguana is the most ancient of all the rock iguanas, and genetically the most unique. Anegada Iguanas are a large species, with males averaging about nine pounds, and they are mostly herbivorous, although they have been known to eat insects—and even crabs.
  • Although this species used to occupy islands across the entire Puerto Rico Bank, it has been restricted to the island of Anegada since dense human settlement in the Caribbean. 
  • The Anegada Iguana has a vital role in the island’s tropical dry forest ecosystem. The iguanas rely on the forest for a variety of plants to eat—more than 40 different species. They eat grasses and leaves, but they love fruits, which native plants produce at different times, keeping the iguanas fed all year.
  • In return, Anegada Iguanas help the plants flourish and keep the forest diverse. They don’t chew food, swallowing it mostly whole, and seeds are not digested. So, as the iguanas travel around their habitat, they deposit and distribute the seeds that grow into new plants. Because the iguanas widely disperse seeds that germinate faster, the island’s ecosystem can recovery more swiftly after powerful storms.
  • These iguanas have been in serious decline since the 1960s, due to pressures from feral domestic animals and now occupies only a small portion of the island. Cats in particular kill nearly all hatchlings and juveniles, resulting in a population of predominantly aging adult iguanas.
  • In 1997, conservation efforts to save the species increased with the construction of a headstart facility on Anegada. As a part of the headstart program, researchers conduct an extensive survey of the island for nest sites. The sites are marked and during the hatching months, research teams return to collect hatchlings as they emerge and transport them to the headstart facility, where they are cared for and grow to a size that allows them to better fend off predators.
  • Through the headstarting program, reintroductions, invasive species eradication, habitat restoration, and population tracking, this species that was once on the brink of extinction is now recovering.
  • An annual Iguana Festival coinciding with the release of headstarted iguanas began in October 2012, to serve as the program’s main educational outreach activity. The event is an island ecology celebration and learning experience centered on the Anegada Rock Iguana.

Anegada Rock Iguana

IIF Grants Received

2018 Grant $4,433
Conservation, Applied Research, and Recovery of the Anegada Iguana, Cyclura pinguis

Kelly Bradley
$4,433
2017 Grant $4,625
Conservation, Applied Research, and Recovery of the Anegada Iguana, Cyclura pinguis

Kelly Bradley
$4,625
2016 Grant $3,500
Conservation, Applied Research, and Recovery of the Anegada Iguana, Cyclura pinguis

Kelly Bradley
$3,500
2015 Grant $4,450
Conservation, Applied Research, and Recovery of the Anegada Iguana, Cyclura pinguis

Kelly Bradley
$4,450
2014 Grant $4,415
Conservation, Applied Research, and Recovery of the Anegada Iguana (Cyclura pinguis)

Kelly Bradley
$4,415
2013 Grant $9,000
Continuing the Headstart Program and Establishing a Unified Management Plan for all Cyclura pinguis Populations in the British Virgin Islands

Kelly Bradley and Glenn Gerber
$9,000
2012 Grant $8,000
Conservation, Applied Research, and Recovery of the Anegada Iguana, Cyclura pinguis

Kelly Bradley
$8,000
2011 Grant $13,910
Conservation, Applied Research, and Recovery of the Anegada Iguana, Cyclura pinguis

Kelly Bradley and Glenn Gerber
$13,910

The IIF has been providing funding support to the Anegada Iguana recovery effort since 2001. This grant will help to sustain the headstart program by continuing to collect information to further our knowledge of the distribution, abundance, and habitat use of the wild population on Anegada. A hatchling ecology study will be conducted to quantify mortality rates and causes.
2011b Grant $8,510
Increasing the Effectiveness and Output of Two Cyclura Headstart Programs Through Increased Oversight, (Cyclura collei and Cyclura pinguis)

Michael Fouraker and Kelly Bradley
$8,510

The IIF has provided funding for headstart programs for the Jamaican (C. collei) and the Anegada Iguana (C. pinguis) since 2003. Headstarting hatchling iguanas provides them with protected growth time until they are large enough to avoid predation whereby they have a higher rate of survival following release. Increased oversight will address some of the lingering issues that have reduced the effectiveness of these program historically. It is the goal of this grant to increase the number of animals available for release by 30-50% by shortening their time in captivity and improving their growth rates and survival.
2010 Grant $9,985
Sustaining the Anegada Iguana (Cyclura pinguis) Headstart Program in 2011

Kelly Bradley and Glenn Gerber
$9,985

The International Iguana Foundation has been providing grants and funding to save this species since the foundation was created. The IIF grant provided to the Anegada Iguana recovery effort this year will help to sustain the headstart program and support further genetic research.
2009 Grant $11,500
Maintaining the Anegada Iguana (Cyclura pinguis) Headstart Program in 2010

Kelly Bradley and Glenn Gerber
$11,500

Award of this year’s grant supports the continuation of the successful Anegada Iguana headstart and release program in 2010, currently in its 13th year.
2005 Grant $8,000
Conservation of the Anegada Iguana: Public Education, Headstart Optimization and Nest Protection

Kelly Bradley and Glenn Gerber
$8,000

This IIF grant supports field research and monitoring of the third consecutive annual release of 24 radiotagged headstarted iguanas, and provides funding to assemble a team to search for iguana nests in July 2006 to ensure a large number of hatchlings are brought into the headstart facility in October.
2004 Grant $11,250
Maintaining and Optimizing the Headstart Release Program for the Anegada Iguana, Cyclura pinguis

Glenn Gerber and Kelly Bradley
$11,250
2003 Grant $25,840
Conservation and Management of the Anegada Iguana

Glenn Gerber and Kelly Bradley
$25,840

This project entails a monitored release of 32 iguanas on Anegada and Fallen Jerusalem, iguana population surveys on Anegada, a habitat suitability survey of Fallen Jerusalem, and maintenance and enhancement of the headstart facility. This release will allow a comparison of survival in two cohorts of juveniles released in environments both with feral mammals (Anegada) and without (Fallen Jerusalem). This grant includes $15,000 held over from 2002.
2002 Grant $15,000
Anegada Iguana Recovery Program

$15,000

These IIF funds were earmarked to promote the recovery effort for the Critically Endangered Anegada Iguana. However, the specific details of how these funds will be allocated are still being determined.