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News Release | ||
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 30, 2006 |
Contact: |
Sarah Burnette (317) 630-3265 General Public Information:
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INDIANAPOLIS
--- The Indianapolis Zoo is extremely excited to announce that for the first
time
ever endangered Jamaican iguanas have been hatched outside of their native island
country. Two baby iguanas were hatched at the Zoo on Tuesday, August 29, and
a third emerged on Wednesday,
August 30. Jamaican iguanas are considered the second rarest lizard
in the world with only about 100 still surviving in the wild, and they are
just slightly less endangered than their cousin, the Grand Cayman blue
iguana, another species that Indianapolis Zoo has bred successfully.
“Chester,” age 15, and “Myrtle,” 14, are the parents of the first three
hatchlings, which are not only the first baby Jamaicans hatched outside
of Jamaica, but the first hatched via artificial incubation. The Jamaican iguana was thought to have gone extinct in the 1940s. They were rediscovered in 1990 in the Hellshire Hills of Jamaica by a pig farmer and his dog. After a small population was found, a conservation program was immediately initiated for these critically endangered animals. Part of the conservation effort includes a “Head Start” program. Half of the newly-hatched young from wild nests are brought into captivity at the Hope Zoo in Kingston. Once these individuals are large enough to avoid mongoose predation, they are acclimated to natural foods and local conditions and released into managed areas within the Hellshire Hills. Animals have been released each year since 1997, and the Indianapolis Zoo has provided support to the “Head Start” Program since the early 1990s. In 1994, the Indianapolis Zoo was one of only three zoos in North America to receive juvenile Jamaican iguanas as part of the overall conservation program, which included establishing a breeding population in the U.S. Since then three additional zoos have been added to the program. Currently there are only 18 iguanas at six zoos in North America. Each year, the Indianapolis Zoo staff has made strides in developing an in-house captive breeding program. Until Tuesday, Indianapolis had been the only institution outside of Jamaica to have had fertile eggs or a developed embryo. This successful hatching is a terrific development that offers hope for the eventual survival of these lizards. If all the expected eggs hatch, this group of youngsters would double the population of Jamaican iguanas in North America. These iguanas are the largest land animal native to Jamaica. Even though their colors range from greenish-blue to slate blue, most have a reddish appearance due to the soil in their native habitat. More information about the worldwide coordinated effort to save Jamaican iguanas is available from the International Iguana Foundation (IIF) at http://www.iguanafoundation.org/. -30- Located in White River State Park downtown, the Indianapolis Zoo is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) and the American Association of Museums as a zoo, aquarium and botanical garden. The Indianapolis Zoo inspires local and global communities to celebrate, protect, and preserve our natural world through conservation, education, and research, and by providing an enriching and wondrous environment for our visitors and the animals in our care. Look for the AZA logo whenever you visit a zoo or aquarium as your assurance that you are supporting a facility dedicated to providing excellent care for animals, a great experience for you, and a better future for all living things. | |||
