Joe Burgess - Caribbean Iguanas

Joe Burgess did another outstanding job in presenting the JHS with a slide show of herps from his favorite part of the world.......the Caribbean. The focus of this talk was the iguanas of the Caribbean. Most people think of only the green iguana, Iguana iguana, when they hear that term because we see countless numbers of them in the pet trade. What a lot of people do not realize is that there are many species of iguanas in 8 genera. Joe not only informed us of the many species, but also of the conservation efforts to preserve some of which only occur on a single island or island group. The tourist business, along with habitat destruction for farmland and development, is quickly destroting what little habitat is left for many of these species. A few species have only a few hundred or less individuals in the wild! The JHS is doing its part to help the cause by recently making a donation to the Jamaican Iguana / Hope Zoo project.

This is a very interesting topic and this review of his talk will be ammended soon. Check back soon. Thanks Joe for a great talk!!! Here are a few links:

www.iguanasociety.org
www.cyclura.com
www.iucn-isg.org