Tag: Department of Environment
Thermal cameras on drones seek out iguanas
(CNS): The invasive green iguana may be a cold-blooded reptile but the Department of Environment has been ferreting them out using thermal cameras mounted on drones. The DoE Terrestrial Resources Unit, which is partnering with researchers at Harrisburg University and Elizabeth Town College for this initiative, revealed in the latest edition of its magazine, Flicker, how the […]
CBC and DoE round up island-hopping poachers
(CNS): Customs and Border Control Agency officers, assisted by Department of Environment conservation officers, recently netted several suspected poachers at Owen Roberts airport on their return from fishing trips to the Sister Islands. The DoE is warning people taking lobster and conch to stick to the take limits, as set out under the National Conservation Law […]
Local grouper sites offer hope for species survival
(CNS): With the Nassau grouper recently elevated to the ‘critically endangered’ list of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the strongest warning it issues that a species is facing an extremely high risk of extinction, the spawning sites around the Sister Islands offer the last hope for the survival in the region of these iconic reef […]
Iguana cull on track as 300k taken to dump
(CNS): In the nine-week period since the green iguana cull began at the end of October on Grand Cayman, 302,326 iguanas have been exterminated, which researchers at the Department of Environment believe equates to around a quarter of the population at the time the island-wide cull began. The numbers show that the $5 bounty is […]
Conservation law makes it to five years intact
(CNS): The National Conservation Law marked its 5th anniversary on Thursday still intact, despite ongoing concerns over government plans to review and water down the legislation, which was originally steered through the Legislative Assembly with unanimous support on 13 December 2013. Wayne Panton, the former environment minister, the only minster to ever hold the portfolio […]
Grouper is off the menu but lobster back on
(CNS): With the Christmas holidays fast approaching, restaurants will be making seasonal changes to their menus as the grouper season closes but open season on lobster begins. The Department of Environment is urging people to follow the National Conservation Law to help protect these important species during the open and closed seasons. The Nassau grouper season closes on […]
DoE cares for rescued sick green turtle
(CNS): A sea turtle found by local boaters on Wednesday floating on the water’s surface in Crystal Harbour is currently being cared for by the Department of Environment. Experts are still not sure what is wrong with the 4-year-old green turtle but it was found in distress and believed to have been sick for some […]
Green iguana cull tops 100,000 in first two weeks
(CNS): Invasive green iguana cullers on Grand Cayman have already managed to remove well over 100,000 of the pesky reptile in just the first two weeks of the island-wide cull aimed at reducing the population to a less harmful level. With more than 1.6 million believed to be on the island at the start of […]
Hawksbill turtle caught in fish pot drowns
(CNS): A juvenile hawksbill turtle drowned on Wednesday after it became entangled in a rope attached to an old, abandoned fish pot in Grand Cayman’s North Sound. The Department of Environment posted images of the endangered young turtle and the cause of its demise on social media and urged people to report any unlicensed or […]
Cull surpasses 2017 numbers in first week
(CNS): The Department of Environment says more than 53,000 green iguanas were culled during the first week of this year’s island-wide cull, which is almost double the 28,985 bagged during the underfunded and limited efforts last year, demonstrating that this time the research has paid off. DoE Terrestrial Resources Unit Manager Fred Burton said improvements […]
Cullers remove 40,000 greens in 4 days
(CNS): The green iguana cull on Grand Cayman appears to have got off to a good start, with registered cullers having killed more than 40,000 in the first four days of the project. The Department of Environment has a target of 6,000 iguanas per day, and with more than 300 people and businesses involved in […]
