Expert issues warning about rock iguanas
(CNS): Fred Burton, manager of the Department of Environment Terrestrial Resources Unit who was fundamental in bringing Grand Cayman’s endemic blue iguana back from the brink of extinction, is warning that the Cayman Islands needs to act now to save the Sister Islands rock iguana on Little Cayman before it, too, faces extinction. A recent survey on the island revealed that the population on that island has halved in the last five years, killed by drivers and feral cats.
The current population could be lower than 1,500, according to the latest survey, after a decline of over 39% in the numbers since the 2015 count.
“These are deeply worrying losses for the Sister Isles Rock Iguana population on Little Cayman,” said Burton. “The causes of the decline are already known: the rock iguanas are being struck by vehicles and their young are falling prey to feral cats. The rock iguana population now consists mainly of mature adults, with the young age classes very scarce due to the unnatural and extreme predation pressure.”
Burton explained that addressing the problem now will be easier than trying to repeat the significant and costly effort that went into the Blue Iguana Recovery Programme.
“Road kill and feral cats are challenging issues to address, but there are solutions, and it makes much more sense to address these now than to wait until the rock iguanas are on the brink of extinction requiring a multi-million dollar rescue operation like we had to do with the blue iguanas on Grand Cayman,” the iguana expert warned.
He said the DoE has long advised Little Cayman and Cayman Brac motorists to drive more slowly and cautiously, particularly during the spring and summer rock iguana breeding season when the large reptiles tend to venture into the roads more often. But despite the calls for caution, around 40 iguanas are being hit and killed each year on Little Cayman’s roads.
As the road surfaces are improved on the island, driving speeds have increased and roadkill rates are far beyond what the rock iguana population can sustain. On top of that, the feral cat predation on the endemic species has been a long-term, serious concern throughout the Cayman Islands, affecting not only the indigenous rock iguanas, but also nesting seabirds, such as the brown and red-footed boobies.
All over the world feral cats are posing a problem to endemic and native species of various animals and birds. They have been named among the world’s 100 worst invasive species by the Invasive Species Specialist Group. In one 2011 study scientists found that feral cats are causing 14% of the modern-era bird, amphibian and mammal extinctions in island countries.
Here in Cayman, addressing the problem has proved troublesome as charities have taken legal action against government to prevent the cull of feral cats. In 2018 the Cayman Islands Humane Society and Feline Friends sought and secured an injunction against a planned cull. It is not clear where that legal action stands now but the government’s hands remain tied.
Burton said this legal case has hamstrung the efforts of both the environment and agriculture ministries to resolve the threat these cats pose to the unique and now extremely threatened indigenous species.
According to the results of the survey, which was completed at the end of last year, the population is in serious jeopardy. The survey data put the estimate of the mean number of rock iguanas at 1,786 (averaged between a low of 1,474 and a high of 2,098) according to the latest survey, showing a decline of over 39% in the numbers since the 2015 count. But it also represents a worrying 54% decline from 2014, when the estimated population was 3,847.
DoE scientists are planning the department’s first distance sampling survey of the Cayman Brac rock iguana population later this year. But the same key threats are prevalent on all three of Cayman Islands.
For more information about the Sister Islands Rock Iguana study, email Frederic.Burton@gov.ky or call 244-5995.
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Category: Land Habitat, Science & Nature
And who do you think brought them over in the first place? Clue: not the now expat owners.
Cats are alpha predators that, if left unchecked, are a danger to the delicate balance of our ecosystem. They must be regulated and licensed and prevented from reproducing.
Need to eliminate all the cats.
Unsure if that was meant to be a joke. Cats – regulated and licenced ?
Seriously though, the spay and neuter programs run by at least 2 volunteer groups in Grand Cayman, supported by the vets of course, can do wonders; if only residents would view the programs as useful to reduce cat numbers. Can we not get this type of program in the sister isles ? Deaths from Savanna cats, dogs, scorpions or traffic won’t be enough. And poisoning is cruel and not a humane option. So lets do catch and release.
They’ve been poisoning feral cats in the Brac for at least the last 40 years. As kids we used to get $25 a cat for removal.
Poisoning cats on the Brac for 40 years? I won’t say you are lying, but I don’t believe that for one Brac minute!
It’s called spay and neuter you sickos poisoning is vary cruel way to die anybody have brains people
Oh, you thought I was asking you? That’s cute.
Yes, cull all the feral cats to save the the rock iguana that will go extinct anyway in the coming because of ignorance and negligence of the real threat which is climate change. What a bunch of trigger happy buffoons.
Mr. 4:30 pm, you are just blowing smoke. Perhaps you are dumber than us buffoons! May I ask you what you have done to prevent global warming? Perhaps you should google earth’s history of our weather for the last 50,000,000 years. Maybe you can learn something.
Cull the cats! I know Ill catch flack for saying that, but hey so what. Cull them all they are nothing but a nuisance.
So why are these iguanas more important than green iguanas? Why is it OK to “eradicate” green iguanas, but we have to NOT eradicate these iguanas?
So basically the importance has to do with their endangerment status?
Your idiocy and ignorance is truly something else.
Why is the Court case taking so long to resolve??
“Why is the court case taking is long?” I’ll bite. Why IS the court case taking so long?
If enough people tell the Humane Society they will withhold financial support until the Society takes a different position on feral cats, it might help them see the light
There’s a donation box in the airport for the Humane Society. How about putting one next to it for the Save the Rock Iguana Fund?
Let’s be honest: there shouldn’t be any outdoor cats, dogs, or chickens, in the Cayman Islands. DOA needs to get their act together.
Cull the feral cats. Humanely. They have no biological relevance to this region and they are a biological hazard killing nesting birds, lizards and our native iguanas.
I keep saying this but there are those who feel that allowing dirty, hungry, disease infected cats free reign to run around the Island is more humane than culling. Perhaps these bleeding hearts should house the entire feral population in their homes.
Actually, they are invasive. Just like the Green Iguanas. Why not treat them the same way?
How about locals actually spay a neuter their animals like the rest of us?
Sure, right after you establish a veterinary clinic with full facilities in Little Cayman.
By the way, most pet owners in Little Cayman are from overseas.
What’s new?
Give residents a realistic 96 hours to collect their collared cats inside their homes, where they belong, then begin the cull. Shouldn’t take too long. This should be done for no other reason than with sensitivity to Little Cayman’s Bird Watching Tourism. There are 169 bird species, including 70 rare and 2 evolutionary distinct species. Booby Pond is actually one of the central pillars of that little island’s economy. If nowhere else in the Cayman Islands, everyone who lives in Little Cayman should be savvy and very well acquainted to the longterm value of the island’s delicate and important natural ecology, including rock iguanas. Get your cats inside and humanely remove the feral nuisance.
A controlled trapping and culling program needs to be done! TNR (Trap neuter release) programs cannot work as the cats will still end up eating the wildlife. It is an unfortunate situation for the feral cats but the indigenous wildlife MUST come first.
Probably not an unfortunate situation for the cats because they can’t be domesticated now so they’re just going to die a slow painful death in the wild.
12:03….the thing is they WON’T die a slow and painful death. Feral cats can live up to 12+ years in the wild! They are currently thriving by eating the local wildlife.
12:03 Check out PETA –
Feral cats live short, hard lives on the streets. They never die of “old age.” Contagious diseases such as herpes viral conjunctivitis, feline AIDS, leukemia, and infectious peritonitis are common in cats left outdoors. Even easily treatable conditions can become deadly for cats who are not seen by veterinarians and are not routinely handled and examined.
Minor cuts or puncture wounds can turn into raging infections and abscesses. Untreated upper respiratory infections can cause cats’ eyes and noses to become so caked with mucus that they can barely see or breathe. Ferals often scratch their ears until they bleed because they are driven mad by the pain and itching of ear mites and related infections.
Others die from blood loss or anemia because of worms, fleas, and untreated injuries. Urinary tract infections, which frequently lead to urinary blockages in male cats, cause slow and excruciating deaths if left untreated.
Don’t know about you but I’d rather take a bullet than that.
I would like to know if feral cats threatened the existence of the blue iguanas on Grand Cayman what would be done!
Turn a blind eye to it like they’re doing climate change I supppse.
They already do. But no one seems to care about the endangered iguanas just the poor poor kitties. (needed the sarcastic emoji for that last bit)
They do, and they must be culled.
Trap, neuter, then re-abandon the cats, forcing them to resume a miserable half starved, disease ridden life in the bush, preying on native wildlife to survive and driving our endemic iguana towards extinction! Such a well thought-out strategy.
Trap and euthanise is the only answer. It solves the problems and is the kindest way to deal with cats.
Shooting removes a step and is probably less stressful.
You clearly didn’t read the comment below – ‘It’s going to interesting to see how they organise the cull because cats are surprising tough things to kill – I’ve seen stories on cats that have survived being shot with crossbow bolts.’ I’ve seen a cat run crushed by a car (I reversed over it) and run off even though it’s back was clearly broken. You’re not going to drop them humanely with an air rifle, it’s like shooting foxes – you need 22-250 or a 12 gauge.
You just have to shoot them nine times.
Or once in the head with a 0.22
8:11 You clearly have no idea how tough cats are. I wouldn’t go as far as 22-250 but .222 is definitely preferable to .22LR or .22 Magnum. A cat’s skull is at least as tough as a human’s (having seen some of the dumb things cats walk away from I’d say tougher) and to penetrate that you need a bit more than a pop gun.
I’ll just use my AR15, bump stock and all.
Many of these feral cats are deep within the wild reserves. The terrain is extremely hazardous, razor sharp karstic limestone. If you manage to hike in carrying a large trap without injuring yourself, you still have to bait and monitor the trap frequently. After all it would be cruel to leave a trapped cat for long.
Then you would have to carry the trapped animal out, again across extremely difficult terrain, while the wild cat panics and bashes itself into a bloody mess against the cage wire. If you and the cat make it out, then, and only then can you even consider having a vet euthanize it, assuming there is one on the island.
Shooting, while publically less acceptable is a kinder and more effective option for all concerned, especially the cat. Sometimes you have to go against general public sentiment and appear to be cruel to be kind.
The sad truth.
7:53 Can’t argue with that but will RCIPS and CIG let you own and use the weapons you need to kill them effectively? No, they will not and they will try to mimic the iguana cull by forcing people to use air rifles, which are just useless against a tough critter like a cat.
These are the Australian rules – Small bore, high velocity, centre fire rifles fitted with a telescopic sight are preferred e.g. .22-250, .22 Hornet, .222 Remington, .223 or .243 Winchester. Hollow-point or soft-nosed ammunition should always be used.
Rimfire weapons with lower muzzle energy are not recommended because of the greater risk of non-lethal wounding.
12-gauge shotguns with heavy shot sizes of No. 2, SSG, BB or AAA may be effective, but only up to a distance of 20 metres from the target animal.
Here’s a thought – RCIPS use .223 so why not use the cull for training?
That’s how the Israelis dealt with feral dogs in the Negev when I was working out there in the mid-1990s. Don’t think RCIPS will match this but their snipers could take out a running dog at up to 800m, they’d then wait until other dogs turned up to feed on the corpse and take out all the scavengers.
Thanks 4:41, I am not much of a gun person, actually a cat person if the truth be known. I find it incredibly sad when well meaning people who genuinely believe themselves to be taking the humane high ground, are actually contributing to this ongoing feline suffering.
As a point of law, the RCIPS do not get to draft our gun (or any other) laws. That would be up to our elected representatives, if they had the balls to do their jobs. Having said that, I respect your point as being close to the current reality.
The Original Truthseeker.
It’s not just feral cats that are a problem, many domestic cats like to kill just for the sake of it. Where my home is in the UK I had a neighbour with a really nasty moggie he called ‘Fluffy’. That went for everything it could get near, small birds seemed to be its favourite but it would kill anything. It wasn’t hunting for food, just for the kill.
The Australians are in the process of trying to wipe out two million feral cats. A few years ago a book was published, ‘Cat Wars: The Devastating Consequences Of A Cuddly Killer’ in which American expert Dr Peter Marra outlines the dangers cats pose to the environment. Back in mid-80s I was a volunteer at a country park in the UK and we were rounding up stray cats because they were wiping out the smaller species living there. It’s actually quite dangerous, we couldn’t be seen killing or trapping them because people might get ‘upset’ and a couple of our team got badly clawed. In the end our catches were dispatched but it was done ‘quietly’ and in secret.
It’s going to interesting to see how they organise the cull because cats are surprising tough things to kill – I’ve seen stories on cats that have survived being shot with crossbow bolts. I’m not sure shooting will work, poison seems problematic so it looks like the answer will be to catch and euthanise them like we did but hopefully using proper traps – there are plenty on the market.
well since the humane society is causing all these problems, why can’t the government bring a law suit against them for the damage caused by the feral cats. I acknowledge that the society does a lot of good on the island but they must be made to understand that they are a society and not the government, or even a department of the government. Why is the government pussy-footing around with them.? Only in Cayman!!
12.47pm Sue the Humane Society. Sue the leadership, sue the members for deliberately contributing to the demise of a native species.
What “native species”?
Ya’ll need to worry about the real killer, climate change.
When will those in positions of authority at the Humane Society stand up to the very few zealots there who ignore the consequences of their ill judged protection of these feral cats. In a year or two there wont be a viable wild population of rock iguanas to protect. Further, if they are sitting on their interim injunction and not pursuing their court case that is an abuse of the court’s process and it should be thrown out. Can the Govt/DOE please do something to break this legal logjam before it is too late. In the meantime perhaps the threat of a donations boycott might concentrate the Humane Society’s minds….
They are not getting any more of my money!
Cross breeding is the answer for securing the Rock Iguana population. It must be done to secure the future of the species.
Cross breeding produces a hybrid that will destroy the species. Check out Smiley at the Turtle Center
Or just take a drive to East End
Omg. Lol
Presumably as well as a feral cat cull vehicles will be banned as well? Maybe a better solution is to trap cats neuter and release. The feral cats didn’t get there of their own accord…..
Yes, trap, the cats, neuter them, release them to … keep eating baby iguanas … maybe not quite a solution.
Neuter and release so they can continue to kill iguana hatchlings for the rest of their life? Sounds like the perfect solution – smh.
It’s the Brac, 12×1, there is no need for motorized vehicles.
This is super expensive and time consuming. Are you going to fund it? I fully support the cat cull even though I am a cat lover who sleeps cuddling her two indoor-only babies every night.
My guess is that public response to a request for funding assistance will provide adequate money. You can count me in.
I have a couple rescue cats myself. They are cared for and not a problem to the Sister Islands Rock Iguanas. Although I relate to cats, the feral cats have to go. It’s much like the invasive Green Iguanas — they are beautiful creatures, but they don’t belong here, and they adversely affect the native wildlife.
Thank you Mr. Fred for talking about difficult subjects like this.
It’s time to stop pussyfooting around this feral cat issue once and for all.
What a beautiful cat. 🙂
Feline fine.
Please kill the cats. The humane society blocked such a cull 25 years ago. This is the consequence.