Iguana Project

I recently visited a project in my host town of San Ignacio, in the Cayo District, that is helping to educate and conserve Belize's largest lizard the green iguana (Iguana iguana). Behind the San Ignacio Hotel is a small screened building filled with tropical plants and iguanas. The project incubates iguana eggs that have come from disturbed nests, raises them to maturity, and releases them into the wild. Sex determination is dependent on temperature; if the temp is below 82 they will be females and above 95 will be males. The incubation period is about 3 months and they reach maturity at about 2 years. When they are released, a few of the soft spines on the back are clipped so they can be easily identified during surveys.

I saw a wild iguana basking on a log in the Mopan River, on July 4th, when our training group visited a Mayan ruin called Xunantunich. But their population has declined because of hunting. Iguana meat is a delicacy, also known as bamboo chicken. The iguana's eggs are also a delicacy. Although the iguana is now a protected species, I was told they may be seen in the Belize City market and are available in the black market. Enforcement can be difficult because the bush meat comes from rural areas of Belize. Large females with eggs are the most sought after. Smaller iguanas may be captured for the pet trade.

While a green iguana, as large as 7 feet head to tail, may seem scary to some people, it is nothing to be feared. They have sharp teeth and claws but adults are strictly herbivorous. For defense they can display their dewlap, which has sub-tympanic discs that mimic large eyes in order to fool predators. Iguanas are also capable of loosing their tail (autotomy) for defense and it will regenerate. Another interesting tidbit, which I did not know about iguanas, is that they have a third eye on the top of their head that can detect light and dark.