After a swirling trip to the world, during which they were caught, rescued and quarantined, eight Fijian iguanas in danger criticize have finally arrived in their new house at the San Diego zoo.
The Iguanas will integrate perfectly with the zoo, which houses the largest captive colony of these reptiles and directs the genetic research efforts which, hopefully, will help open the way to their future survival, officials said.
Zoo staff were delighted to finally meet the long green additions, who were seized by the Spanish authorities in a bust of more than 600 reptiles victims of the illegal trafficking.
“Confiscations of the wildlife fauna occur much more frequently than people think, and reptiles are particularly sensitive because of their high demand in the illegal pet trade,” said Brett Baldwin, curator of herpetology and chtyology at the San Diego zoo, in a press release. “This transportation of the Fijian iguanas of Spain at the San Diego zoo has been several years, but testifies to our commitment and our dedication to saving fauna and obtaining these best possible care.”
In Spain, the iguanas were under the care of the for Research in Ethology and Biodiversity Foundation near Madrid. Their move to San Diego was authorized by the Fiji government in an international effort to help restore endangered species.
Fijian iguanas were seized by the Spanish authorities in a 2017 bust.
(Ken Bohn / San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance)
“The smuggling of fauna is a real problem that threatens the people in Iguana threatened with Fiji who are already confronted with expanding pressure of human activities and invasive extraterrestrial species,” said the president of the Fiji Council, Setoki Tuuteci, in a statement. “Consequently, we appreciate the actions of the security authorities and organizations like San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance.”
Baldwin went to Spain to help prepare for the theft of iguanas to the United States. When the reptiles arrived safely in Los Angeles, they were escorted at the Jennings veterinary hospital of the zoo for in -depth and forty health assessments.
Once authorized by the forties, the iguanas will be ready to meet the rest of their family lost for a long time at the zoo.
San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance has helped with more than 20 reptile crises in the last 28 years and was one of the first zoos to start receiving Fijian iguanas. Their conservation breeding program that was created in the 1990s has successfully produced more than 100 newborns.
The zoo analyzed the DNA samples taken from nearly 200 iguanas out of 30 islands as part of its efforts to learn to keep the species as best as possible. The results have shown that the populations of Iguane Fijien Indigenous have much greater genetic diversity than we thought before – perhaps pointing to an entirely new species of iguana.
Fijian iguanas are on 10% of the 330 Fiji islands.
(Ken Bohn / San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance)
Zoo geneticists will work with the eight new iguanas to determine if they were directly pointed out of nature or from the farm illegally, and from which island from which they could originally come. Fijian iguanas are on 10% of Fiji around 330 islands and most populations are threatened.
The lizards are approximately 21 inches long and feast on leaves, fruits and flowers in coastal swamps and tropical forests of their native islands. They spend most of their lives living in trees – descending only to lay eggs.
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