Tag: Flicker magazine
Caribbean is world’s worst region for diversity loss
(CNS): The Caribbean and Latin America Region has seen a decline in animal and fish populations of 94% over the last 50 years, according to an analysis of bio-diversity by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) published Thursday in the Living Planet Report 2022. The world has seen a devastating drop of over 69% but this […]
New ideas needed to keep green iguanas in check
(CNS): An army of around 320 registered cullers have managed to kill almost 1.35 million invasive green iguanas over the last three years since the project first began, but there has been a decline in interest from cullers despite an increase in the bounty. This is largely because the estimated number of iguanas has dropped […]
Forest fire kills off 26% of endemic ‘Old George’
(CNS): More than a quarter of the endemic and critically endangered ‘Old George’ (Wittmackia caymanensis), a type of bromeliad plant, was destroyed in the March brush fire at the Ironwood Forest in George Town, the Department of Environment has revealed. Writing in the latest edition of the department’s bi-monthly magazine, Flicker, Jane Haakonsson, the editor […]
Cullers back as green hatchlings emerge
(CNS): Following the suspension of the green iguana culling programme following the COVID-19 lockdown in March, a limited number of cullers returned to the job in June. But now that restrictions have largely been lifted, 171 officially registered iguana bounty hunters are taking down the invasive species just as the hatchlings begin to emerge, according […]
Reduced army of cullers reining back iguanas
(CNS): Measures taken by government to curb the spread of COVID-19 put the nationwide green iguana cull on hold for several weeks, just as the pesky reptile moved into its breeding season. With exemptions now in place for the consultants managing the cull and around 50 top cullers, war on this invasive species has restarted. […]
Sister Island iguana in worrying decline
(CNS): A survey on Little Cayman of Sister Islands Rock Iguanas (Cyclura nubila caymanensis) has shown that the species is in serious trouble as a result of cats and cars as well as habitat loss. While this iguana is already listed as critically endangered, the latest count revealed a further unsustainable decline due to the […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Land crabs threatened by traffic and development
(CNS): A new scoping study by the Department of Environment Terrestrial Research Unit found that almost 3,000 black land crabs were killed on the Queen’s Highway in East End during the two month peak migration season last summer. Writing in the DoE magazine, Flicker, graduate research student Kinsey Tedford, said there is much local anecdotal […]
Rare Brac plant in need of a name
(CNS): A rare shrub that grows only on one small area of the Bluff on Cayman Brac is in need of a name. High on the cliffs overlooking the community of Spot Bay, a unique Verbesina, the only one that lives in the Cayman Islands, has found a home in the upper rock face. But writing in the […]
