Conservation experts are celebrating an exciting milestone as the 1,000th Jamaican rock iguana is about to be released into the wild.
In the mid-1940s, people thought these critically endangered animals had gone extinct. “The species’ continued survival in the Hellshire Hills [in Jamaica] was confirmed in 1970 from a single individual and again in 1990 when a remnant population of fewer than 50 individuals, mostly old adults, was discovered,” writes the IUCN Red List on its website.
Soon, the 1000th Jamaican rock iguana will be released back into the wild by the team at the Fort Worth Zoo along with their conservation partners.
"When I joined the Fort Worth Zoo and this program in 2016, we had just reached 300 iguanas reintroduced into the wild," says Dr. Stesha Pasachnik, Jamaica programme officer at Fort Worth Zoo. “In the last 10 years, we have been able to improve field efforts and grow the headstart programme to reach this historic milestone.”
Headstarting is when young animals are reared in captivity before being released into the wild. This gives them a better chance of survival because young iguanas are more likely to be taken by predators.
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“Hatchlings are raised at the Headstart Facility at Hope Zoo in Kingston, Jamaica, where they can grow larger and stronger in a protected environment before being returned to the Hellshire Hills,” explains the Fort Worth Zoo in a statement.
Reaching this milestone has been a long journey. “The 1,000th reintroduction represents decades of collaboration, research and commitment to the Jamaican rock iguana,” says Pasachnik. “As conservation teams continue working to strengthen the wild population, each iguana serves as an encouraging reminder of what long-term, collaborative conservation can accomplish."
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Top image: Jamaican rock iguana. Credit: Fort Worth Zoo
