Cullers bag over 800k greens
(CNS): A whopping 803,446 green iguanas have now been killed since the culling programme began at the end of October last year. The latest statistics, which were posted on the Department of Environment’s website this weekend, reveals that in June alone over 112,000 greens were bagged and taken to the dump, the largest haul in a single month since November when the cull first started. The number of iguanas killed means that the army of cullers have now earned more than $4 million.
While the number of iguanas culled declined during the first quarter of this year, this has improved considerably over the last two months as the iguanas have become more visible due to an increase in temperature, which makes them more active, and as the breeding season begins, when they are on the move looking for a mate.
Given the prolific reproductive ability of the iguanas, the need to increase the cull numbers ahead of the breeding season was important and officials are pleased that the cullers are keeping well on top of the targets, ensuring that the project will be a success.
When the cull started the DoE estimated that there could be as may as 1.5 million iguanas eating their way through the local vegetation and posing a serious threat to the fauna across Grand Cayman, but with at least 50% of the population removed so far, the cull has already made a significant impact.
Officials have confirmed that they will be doing a population survey in the autumn to assess the numbers and get a true measure of the success of the island-wide cull.
Category: Land Habitat, Science & Nature
May God have mercy on their souls.
They eating the “crops” out back Phelan or something?
Who is counting them?
a secret magician….
Slocum
They leave the “breeders” to keep them coming …. good business. Shoot the old and young ones.
It is a scheme, we know that.
Any idea when will they start on the Chickens?
Leave the damn chickens alone they keep the creepy crawler population under control! They aren’t eating our crops a tenth as much.
Your chickens eat all our mangoes as soon as they fall and worse, they tour the garbage bins tearing open the plastc garbage bags and spreading garbage and disease everywhere.That’s why they are called FERAL chickens. We do not want to be a third world country.
Ants eat fruit that falls to the ground before being picked up in time, should we wipe them out too?
Maybe if the garbage was also collected on time, you wouldn’t need to consider killing animals that aren’t actually as invasive as you paint them to be.
Chickens are helpful. If not, move back to Australia where every harmful insect in the world awaits your ass to be planted onto your lawn.
Actually we call our feral chickens Yard Fowls but whatever…lol
Don’t think this person has them screaming outside his/her bedroom all night.
Please start culling them
What came first, second and third.
The chicken
The Caymanian
The iguana
build a simple trap and cull them yourself; it’s what we had to do for the very reason you state — the noise.
audit this scheme now…
who is counting and how?…
how are the bodies being disposed of?
I hear you. That is what I want to know too.
Not gonna happen. Everyone knows this is just a Caymanian welfare scam. It was and is a way to give free money to the hopelessly unemployed but still entitled. Its Cayman. Its expected. Its OK. At least some iguanas are being taken out.
Works for me
And what a hell of a welfare pay to be collecting too, four figures every two weeks it’s no wonder some of you be hating.
But let me help try educate some of you ignorant keyboard warriors (if there is such a thing to do), first off it’s not free money, cullers work real hard for their earnings and it is a public service for everyone that lives here in the Cayman Islands, if you can remember a few years ago we didn’t even have a mango season because of them. Secondly not only are the hopelessly unemployed are involved, many including expats and people with high paying jobs are getting with the program, and to you all I commend for your services, still seems a lot better than the NAU and American welfare scheme where people gets paid for doing nothing maybe you should get up from behind your phone/computer screen and get involve with the program, what can you stand to lose but a few pounds and to be of some use to our community instead of a waste of space.
will the same be done with the chickens?
and who do you want to go after all chicken are gone? Visitors love free roaming chicken by the way.
Ever see a wild chicken running down the road in New York? It’s a treat to see them in Cayman so casually intertwined with people.
6:27pm
my friend you are far too global in your outlook for the pea- brained dogmatists responding to your comment.
Give it up!
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Would like to see as much interest in permanent residence and status grant numbers.
For example just as we have a target rate for iguanas any right thinking country should have a published target growth rate.
After all adding more people has a much more significant impact than iguanas ever will.
These smoke in mirror issues serve to distract from more important matters.
Imagine how many school lunches for children in need could be purchased with CI$4 million.
Get a job support your own children,
You crazy!? I need to spend my money on my fake nails, hair extensions, cigarettes and alcohol!
Take your own advice. Or maybe your so incompetent that living off of Government handouts is your only option? The money that is being given to you is from people who have a job and work it. Which is why they do not want it given to people who don’t work.
Heartless suckers!
won’t someone please think of the children!!!!….zzzzzzzzzz
Not a cultural thing here.
maybe we can feed them iguana !!
It’s a great idea! Glad I am a responsible mother of two who is married, we don’t cheat, we waited until we could afford children, we pay their way and do not take handouts.
No my dear friend, they are only too caught up in cussing the adults.
Heartless SOBs!
The State Of Florida has now joined the fight against the green iguana invasion. Just like Grand Cayman, they are facing the environmental destruction caused by these creatures, and are encouraging Floridians to kill as many as possible.
20 days since the last article stating that “almost” 739,000 iguanas had been caught. Now we’re apparently at 803,446 – an increase of about 64,000. Again, let’s assume that no one has taken any of the weekends or the public holiday off in the past two weeks (I doubt that is true) and everyone has worked a solid 8 hour day for 20 days non stop with no breaks (I doubt that is true either). We’re expected to believe that 3,222 iguanas have been caught and delivered to the dump to be individually counted every day for the last 20 days. 400 per hour. Almost 7 per minute. I was at the landfill last week. Nobody was counting iguanas at the skip where they’re dropped off.
Spend a couple of minutes thinking realistically how many iguanas you could catch in an hour with all the top of the line equipment. Driving to where you think they are. Finding one. Catching it. Killing it. Putting it in a bag. Filling the bag. Taking it back to the truck. Driving to the dump and watching your iguanas being counted. How many do you think you could do in a day?
These numbers are utter nonsense.
A pile of 800,000 iguanas would be getting up towards 30 feet high now. Let’s see a photo.
Pastor Alfredo
You know the counters don’t have to pick each one up, or even touch them. A truckload comes in, the culler lays them out, and the counter looks at them and goes 1, 2, 3 ….
Okay negative nancy, why haven’t I seen one in months, ANYWHERE, then, if they aren’t being killed in these numbers? I used to be able to stand in one spot and pick out ten of them without turning my head.
Your comment is beyond the point Pastor makes.
9.45pm Try Phelan Close off S Church St, I still have plenty around my back garden. Cullers please turn out.
Also may I add my support to removing the feral chickens we have hordes of them, it’s like living in a third world country.Do we really need them patrolling the Courts Building, the L.A. and most of our restaurants with outside seating?.
Pigeons are popular in Europe.
Same shit bags, flying rats!
Do we call Europe third world?
Such myopic rose-coloured glasses you small-minded people wear.
Should take away your passports and don’t allow you all to travel.
SMH..
There is a juvenile one under the hedge at the old Glasshouse
I can do more push ups in a minute.
Try not believing in conspiracies for once.
No conspiracy. Simple arithmetics don’t support the numbers.
Hey buddy,
You have to be the most ignorant commentator here on CNS. Why not take a drive to the dump yourself to satisfy your scepticism.
I for one participate in the culling effort, and can believe the numbers that are posted.
And as for a 30 foot high plie, where did you come up with that? The carcasses are not left around in the open. They are disposed of everyday…. and they do decompose.
He is not the most ignorant commentator. I support his comment and 9:23am comment. So, there is at least 3 of us.
NUMBERS make no sense. Period.
Predictive value or anticipatory outcomes DON’T make any sense.
Auditors should step in now, while the scheme is taking place, for risk of material misstatement is high.
Pastor, I am with you! The numbers are utter nonsense.
Pastor Asparagus, you religious lot are really paranoid.
I am not religious at all. I love math!
But you’re really bad at it!
– person who has never killed a green iguana before in their life
Pastor, the maths done here is way different from the maths you do with your offering pans every Sunday.
300 registered cullers. 10 a day each. Yep, I could believe that. Especially with some of the culling teams using air rifles.