Cuban iguana

- Cyclura nubila

The Cuban iguana (Cyclura nubila) it is found in the rocky coastal areas of Cuba and in the 4.000 islets surrounding the Cuban mainland, including the Isle of Youth, off the southern coast, which has one of the most robust populations. Populations are found on islets along the north and south coasts and in protected areas on the mainland.. [These include the Guanahacabibes Biosphere Reserve in the west., the Desembarco del Granma National Park, Hatibonico Wildlife Refuge, the Punta Negra-Quemados Ecological Reserve and the Delta del Cauto Wildlife Refuge, all in eastern Cuba. [According to Allison Alberts, San Diego Zoo Ecologist, among the many species of fauna at the base, ” the Cuban iguana (Cyclura nubila) is one of the largest, without a doubt the most visible and certainly the most charismatic”. It seems that no one completes a period of service at Guantanamo without meeting these prehistoric-looking giants.”. An unusual incident occurred when a detainee at the prison assaulted a guard with a bloodied tail ripped from a Cuban iguana in 2005.

The subspecies, Cyclura nubila caymanensis, is endemic to “sister islands” of Little Cayman and Cayman Brac. The population in Cayman Brac is less than 50 of these animals and Small Alligator keeps 1.500. A feral population of C has been established in Grand Cayman. n. caymanensis.

The Cuban iguana makes its burrow near cacti or thistles, sometimes even within the cactus itself. These thorny plants offer protection and their fruits and flowers offer food to iguanas.. In areas without cacti, lizards make their burrows in dead trees, hollow logs and limestone cracks.

In the middle of the Decade of 1960, a small group of Cuban iguanas was released from a zoo on Magueyes Island, southwest of Puerto Rico, forming an independent feral population. As of the year 2000, there has been talk of eliminating or relocating this iguana population by the U.S. Department of the Interior. This feral population is the source of the 90% of captive Cuban iguanas found in private collections.

As the largest member of its kind, the Cuban iguana (Cyclura nubila) reaches a total length of 150 cm and a head-torso length of 70 cm.. Males are much larger than females and have large pores on their thighs through which they release pheromones. Both sexes have a dorsal crest. The scales of the muzzle are enlarged and bulging, but they do not form “horns”. Skin color varies from dark gray to brick red in males, and is olive green with dark bands in females. Feet are blackish.

The Cuban iguana prefers to live in coastal and rocky areas covered with shrubs, holly and opuntia. Animals feed on plant material such as leaves, flowers or fruits. The Cuban iguana is oviparous. Egg clutches consist of 5-11 eggs, that hatch after 77-92 days at an ambient temperature of approximately 30ºC and have a length of 27-32 cm..

State of conservation ⓘ
Vulnerable ⓘ (UICN)ⓘ

Since 1999, all major concentrations of iguanas, except one, are partially or fully protected by the Cuban government. Although there is no captive breeding program in Cuba, the National Center for Protected Areas has suggested that it will explore this avenue in the future.. In 1985, the Cuban government issued a commemorative peso with a Cuban iguana on the front of the coin in an attempt to raise awareness about this animal.

The Cuban iguana is well established in public and private collections. Many zoos and private individuals keep them in captive breeding programs, minimizing the demand for wild-caught specimens for the pet trade. [The Cuban iguanas are listed as “vulnerable” on The IUCN Red list, as well as the predominant Cuban subspecies, while the subspecies of the Cayman Islands is “critically endangered”. The total population in Cuba is estimated between 40.000 and 60.000 individuals, and the feral population on Magueyes Island is estimated at more than 1.000..

Indirectly, the status of the Cuban iguana under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. USA. came to American jurisprudence. In the autumn of 2003, Attorney Tom Wilner had to persuade U.S. Supreme Court justices. USA. to accept the case of a dozen Kuwaiti detainees who were isolated at Guantanamo Bay (Cuba), no fees, no hearing and no access to a lawyer. [According to Peter Honigsberg, Professor of Law at the University of San Francisco, Wilner unsuccessfully presented two arguments to the Court to hear his case.; in his third argument he changed tactics by mentioning U.S. law and the Cuban iguana. Wilner argued that “any, including a federal official, violating the Endangered Species Act by harming an iguana at Guantanamo, can be fined and prosecuted”. But, the government argues that U.S. law does not apply to protect human prisoners found there”. According to Honigsberg, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case because of this argument.

Unlike other Antillean islands where iguanids are found, iguana meat consumption was never widespread in Cuba. Some fishing communities may have practiced it at some point., but for the most part the animal was not consumed by Cubans. According to naturalist Thomas Barbour in 1946, this was based on superstitious beliefs suggesting that iguanas emit a dark fluid reminiscent of the black vomit of yellow fever victims when they are killed..

One of the main threats to iguanas throughout the Caribbean is cats.. In Guantánamo they consume an incalculable number of iguana pups every year.

In 1993, the San Diego Zoo experimentally tested the usefulness of a “head-starting” for newborn Cuban iguanas with funding from the National Science Foundation Conservation and Restoration Biology Program. “Head-starting” is a process by which iguana eggs are born in an incubator and animals are protected and fed during the first 20 months of his life. The purpose is to get animals to a size where they are better able to flee or fight predators.. This technique was originally used to protect newborn sea turtles, to Galapagos land iguanas and to the Ctenosaura bakeri on the island of Útila, but Alberts first used it in a kind of Cyclura with the Cuban iguana. The goal was not only to help the Cuban iguana population., but to test the overall effectiveness of headstarting as a conservation strategy for other critically endangered Cyclura species.

According to Alberts, the strategy was successful when the released iguanas reacted to predators, they sought food and behaved like their free-born congeners.. This strategy has been applied with great success with other species of Cyclura and Ctenosaura endangered in the West Indies and Central America, in particular the Jamaican iguana (Cyclura collei), the Blue iguana of Grand Cayman, the Ricord's ground iguana (Cyclura ricordi), the Allen Cays rock iguana (Cyclura cychlura inornata), the Acklins ground iguana (Cyclura rileyi nuchalis) and Anegada rock iguana (Cyclura pinguis).

Cuba exported 122 wild-caught specimens and the Cayman Islands 14. The last export took place in 2009. in the same period, export was recorded 109 captive bred animals around the world. From them, 56 came from the Czech Republic.

Males and females are extremely aggressive towards each other outside of mating season. So, good terrarium structure and escape possibilities are necessary. Animals must have a pool at their disposal. Temperature and humidity should vary throughout the day.

According to the opinion of reptile experts, a terrarium for a couple should have at least 5 times the length, 4 times the width and 3 times the height of the animals head-torso length. For each additional animal, a is added 15% to the basic surface.

It is a protected species, even so we have found copies on the internet, supposedly, of "Cuban iguana" At a price of 40 EUR. Dodax

1. Cuban iguana, Cuban rock iguana, Cuban ground iguana (English).
2. Iguane terrestre de Cuba (French).
3. Kubaleguan, Kubanische Felsenleguan, Kubanischer Grundleguan, Kubanischer Leguan (German).
4. Iguana-cubana (Portuguese).
5. "Iguana cubana" (español).