Fitch, Henry S.

Henderson, Robert W.

English

The University of Kansas: Journals@KU

Over a quarter of a century has passedsince we first investigated iguanaexploitation in Central America. A“friend” recently pointed out to us thatwe were a couple of “old-timers” when it comesto that particular subject (see also the Profile on p. 86). Prior to collaborating on Ctenosaura andIguana research, we independently had done con-siderable field work with these lizards. Fitch stud-ied C. similis in Costa Rica in the late 1960s andHenderson worked with juvenile I. iguana andwith C. similis in Belize in 1970–1. We were bothwell aware of the human-induced pressureimposed on these lizards, and we were interestedin bringing their plight to the attention of our col-leagues, conservation organizations, legislativebodies in the countriesin which we wereworking, and to thegeneral public (see thesummary in Fitch et al.1982, full citation atthe end of this article).In the UnitedStates, most folksfamiliar with iguanasassociate them with thepet trade or considerthem curios, and theirimportation for thesepurposes is a minorindustry. However,within the iguanas’ ranges in tropical America,these lizards are hunted for food and, in someareas, may be the principal game animals. In orderto determine the extent of iguana exploitation andlearn the methods used to hunt and subdue them,we visited each of the Central American countries,observed iguanas in their natural surroundings andin mercados, and we interviewed hunters and gov-ernment officials.Early records revealed that iguanas had beenhunted since ancient times by many of the nativecultures, but, thanks to their high reproductivepotentials, they had been able to maintain theirnumbers over hundreds of years despite exploita-tion. However, the widespread use of insecticidesto protect crops, habitat destruction resulting inlarge part from an increase in the number of peo-ple, and overhunting inevitably altered ecosystems.The result was that both Green Iguanas andctenosaurs have experienced rapid reductions innumbers in recent years and have disappeared frommany areas where they were formerly abundant.63IGUANASeptember 2003A Backward Glance at Iguana ExploitationHenry S. Fitch1 and Robert W. Henderson21Henry S. Fitch Natural History Reservation, University of Kansas, Lawrence2Milwaukee Public Museum, Milwaukee, WisconsinAll photographs by RWH.Ctenosaura similis in the Belize City cemetery.A ctenosaur emerging froma Belize City cemetery grave.64 IGUANA Volume 10, Number 3Both Green Iguanasand ctenosaurs havebeen important proteinsources for peoplelocally. Each kind ispreferred in certainparts of the range.Beyond its actual foodvalue, the flesh is val-ued for its supposedmystical power, andconsumers are pre-pared to pay muchmore than they wouldfor a similar amount ofbeef or chicken. TheCatholic Church has ruled that iguana flesh, likefish, is a permissible substitute for “meat” (flesh ofmammals or birds) on Fridays and during Lent.Over much of the range, ctenosaur flesh is highlyvalued as an aphrodisiac. In Belize, however, it isconsidered unfit for human food. The Belize Citycemetery supports a colony of Ctenosaura similisand many of the lizards have burrows in the gravemounds. This led to the belief that they feed onhuman corpses in their graves.In the MercadosFrom the Isthmus of Tehuantepec along thePacific Coast to Lake Nicaragua, at least 25 townshave mercados where iguanas were formerly sold.El Salvador was a major importer. Having depletedits own population of iguanas, it received themfrom Honduras, Guatemala, and Nicaragua byboat and by bus. The neighboring countriespassed legislation banning the trade, but pedestri-ans carrying sacks or baskets full of reptiles in manyinstances were allowed to cross the border into ElSalvador.Cruel treatment of captured iguanas was rou-tine. In the mercados, buyers often requested thatvendors sell them unlaid eggs without the females.The vendors would slit the females’ abdomens andrip out the eggs. Many commonly believed thatsuch stripped females would survive and producemore eggs. Females stripped of their eggs anddying from the crude surgery were a commonsight where street vendors were plying their trade.Also, because ctenosaurs were liable to bite a han-dler, their mouths were routinely sewn shut. Inaddition, pulling off the claw of the fourth(longest) hind toe with pliers and drawing out thetendon was common practice. The exposed ten-don was then tied to that of the opposite side sothat the animal was immobilized. Iguanas wereoften stuffed in sacks, several layers deep, andmight be kept there for long periods without foodor water.Tethered Green Iguanas at the Chinandega, Nicaragua market(February 1976).Male and female ctenosaurs with their mouths sewn shut(Nicaragua, February 1976).Visiting the mercados, we would at timesencounter many dozens of iguanas. Approachingthe vendors, we requested permission to examinethe lizards and to take measurements and canrecall being spurned only once; the rest were morethan willing to let us handle their merchandise. Wewould often work for several hours at a stretch,standing in open markets and recording data,while curious onlookers watched. I’m sure ourpeculiar behavior was attributed to the fact that wewere gringos, thereby making it perfectly accept-able. After handling several dozen adult GreenIguanas and, especially, ctenosaurs, our armswould be covered with scratches and cuts, some-times from the lizards’ claws, but more often fromtheir lashing tails.Visting the HuntersThe iguana vendors provided us with thenames of villages from which the lizards origi-nated. Based on this information, we worked back-ward from the mercados and were able to trackdown several hunters in order to learn how theycaptured their prey. In hunting iguanas for homeconsumption, a .22 rifle was often used, but someCentral American countries banned the use offirearms or even slingshots. Professional huntersfor the commercial market in El Salvador capturedtheir iguanas alive and unharmed. This was usuallyaccomplished with a bamboo pole and noose. Thehunter slowly approached the basking lizard andextended the pole with noose toward it, with apiece of calf’s liver dangling as bait.Hunters often used trained dogs, and thesewere especially effective in hunting female Green65IGUANASeptember 2003A pile of iguanas: mostlyCtenosaura similis, but some Green Iguanas, too(Chinandega, Nicaragua;February 1976).An iguana vendor at theChinandega, Nicaraguamercado (February 1976).Iguanas during the nesting season. The hunterwould move stealthily along a stream, scanning theterrain ahead for signs of nesting activity. Severalfemales might be digging their nesting burrows ina sand bank, and some might have their forequar-ters in a hole so that they could not see dangerapproaching. At a signal from the hunter, the dogwould race ahead and might catch a female beforeshe could escape from the burrow or outrun herbefore she could reach the safety of a tree. Femalesbearing a heavy burden of eggs were relatively slowrunners. The dogs were trained not to injure thelizards.Some hunters used shovels to dig iguanasfrom their burrows; excavation also could beaccomplished with a pointed stick and their hands.Females concentrating on nest excavation wereespecially vulnerable to capture. Again, a femalewith her head and forebody in the burrow was lesslikely to be aware of an approaching hunter than alizard involved in other activities.We also became aware that iguanas weresometimes used merely for target practice. Theywould be shot with a .22 rifle from a vehicle asthey sat on roadside boulders or fence posts. If notkilled outright, ctenosaurs that were shot oftenescaped into nearby burrows, whether or not theirwounds were mortal. The “hunters” would makeno attempt to retrieve the dead or woundedlizards.What’s Happenend Since?After our multi-year stint with iguanas, wemoved on to new projects or resumed old inter-ests. Fitch continued his studies of Anolis lizardsand his long-term work with Kansas snake ecology.Henderson moved on to the West Indies and itsintriguing snake fauna. We assume that the merca-dos of Central America no longer sell iguanas inthe numbers that we observed in the mid-1970s.Is it because of legislation protecting the tastylizards, or because population densities have dra-matically plummeted? We suspect the latter. TheU.S. now harbors denser populations of Cteno-saura similis and Iguana iguana than do someareas where they occur naturally.On a brighter note, interest in iguana biologyhas never been greater, and exciting research isbeing conducted in many countries and with adiverse cadre of species. The long-term (20+ years)mark-and-recapture study of John Iverson onCyclura cychlura inornata in the Bahamas is espe-cially exciting. Also, efforts to protect species withdramatically declining numbers (e.g., Ctenosaurabakeri, Cyclura lewisi) are, on the one hand, dis-heartening because the numbers are so danger-ously low, but, on the other, gratifying that peoplecare enough about the iguanas to do something.Iguanas of all species are fortunate to have theInternational Iguana Society in their corners. ReferencesFitch, H.S., R.W Henderson, and D.M. Hillis. 1982. Exploitationof iguanas in Central America, pp. 397–417. In: G.M.Burghardt and A.S. Rand (eds.), Iguanas of the World: TheirBehavior, Ecology, and Conservation. Noyes Publ., Park Ridge,New Jersey.Krysko, K.L., F.W. King, K.M. Enge, and A.T. Reppas. 2003.Distribution of the introduced Black Spiny-tailed Iguana(Ctenosaua similis) on the southwestern coast of Florida.Florida Sci. 66:141–146.Valiulis, J.M., K.N. Hines, and J.B. Iverson. 2003. Adventures ofthe iguana patrol, pp. 39–48. In: R.W. Henderson and R.Powell (eds.), Islands and the Sea: Essays on HerpetologicalExploration in the West Indies. Soc. Study Amphib. Rept.Contrib. Herpetol., Vol. 20, Ithaca, New York.66 IGUANA Volume 10, Number 3A young iguana vendor and her merchandise (Chinandega,Nicaragua; February 1976).

A Backward Glance at Iguana Exploitation

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A Backward Glance at Iguana Exploitation

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