Tag: DoE Terrestrial Resources Unit
Adult iguana numbers drop 90%
(CNS): Even though this year saw a vast number of hatchlings emerge during the green iguana breeding season, the national cull has cut the number of this invasive reptile dramatically. One year after the army of registered cullers hit the bush, they have reduced the population by more than 90%, officials from the Department of […]
Cullers race to combat iguana hatchlings
(CNS): With 885,383 green iguanas in the proverbial bag, the army of local cullers are now racing to keep pace with the invasive reptile’s breeding season. After a drop in the numbers culled during July and August, the Department of Environment is keen to ensure the cull remains on track now that the animals are […]
DoE starts green iguana count
(CNS): The Terrestrial Resources Unit at the Department of Environment will be starting its annual green iguana count this month. And with more than 830,000 culled over the last nine months, researchers are hoping the population will be much lower than the 1.3 million estimated last August. Cullers made massive strides in denting the population […]
Over 700,000 greens now culled
(CNS): The nationwide culling programme to control the explosion in the invasive green iguana population is back on target after 100,000 corpses were taken to the dump in May, and at the half-way mark this month another 53,000 had been culled. Between the beginning of the cull last October and the end of last week […]
Conservationists seek protection for land crabs
(CNS): A group of concerned conservationists who are worried about the threat to Cayman’s land crabs have been working with the Department of Environment to get these culturally significant creatures on the protected species lists under the National Conservation Law. A request is now being made to Cabinet to add the black land crab and […]
Visiting scientist studies invasive threat to local anole
(CNS): Inbar Maayan, a graduate student in biology at Harvard University, spent the summer in Grand Cayman to study one of the less conspicuous invasive species that are finding their way to our shores. The impact of the brown anole on Cayman’s indigenous blue anole is an important line of research because it could help […]
Cull off target as iguanas set to breed
(CNS): Cullers have exterminated almost 450,000 green iguanas since October, when the nationwide initiative to get the exploding population of pests under control was launched. But the early targets set by the Department of Environment are now falling off just as the summer breeding season approaches. From an estimated 1.5 million greens roaming Grand Cayman […]
NCC presses on with land protection
(CNS): The National Conservation Council has recommended another ten environmentally important sites, nominated by the community, be protected under the conservation law, following a public consultation period. The ten sites cover all three islands and include a diversity of natural habitats, from wetlands to primaeval forest. Following Wednesday’s meeting, the council voted to present the […]
New cullers swell ranks but count off target
(CNS): Another 115 people signed up to take part in the island-wide green iguana cull on Grand Cayman following the latest registration call. but the daily target of around 6,000 being culled is still not being met just a few months after the start of the species’ breeding season. The carcasses of around 400,000 iguanas […]
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 […]
DoE seeking to protect 20% of Cayman’s environment
(CNS): Five years after the historic passage of the National Conservation Law, the Department of Environment said that so far it has managed to designate 3,477 acres of land across the three Cayman Islands as public protected areas. Another 634 acres on Grand Cayman are pending for protection, which accounts for just over 6% of […]
