This year’s Blue Iguana Day celebrations on Sunday will have a special buzz to it after the first iguana eggs of the season were unearthed this week.
The Blue Iguana Conservation programme revealed the discovery of the eggs on its official page, ahead of its special Blue Iguana Day celebrations which will be held Sunday from 10:30am to 2pm at its facility at the Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park.
In announcing the discovery of the eggs, the BIC, said, “We have a lot of other females starting to dig so we look forward to what will hopefully be another successful breeding season.”
The programme has been successful in bringing the species back from the point of extinction and boosting the local population.
“Our conservation efforts continue to move forward and we have reached an interesting tipping point in the story of the blue iguana, there is now a second chance to turn the corner and move towards a sustainable population for future generations to enjoy. But we must continue to fund and work towards mitigating some of the threats they face and challenges ahead. Our goal is to keep working towards everything outlined in our 5 year action plan that was published last year and we encourage people to continue to support our work to achieve this ambitious plan,” Luke Harding, BIC Operations Manager told the Cayman Compass via email Friday.
Commenting in its post about retrieving the eggs, the BIC said, “This isn’t a very easy or glamorous job, but the satisfaction from the high yield and quality of the eggs reflects the team’s hard work throughout the year to provide increased diet variation and excellent animal husbandry”.
Looking to Sunday’s event, Harding said, there will be a closed session in the morning before the official event starts where BIC will be celebrating the Graduation of our next group of Blue Iguana Guardians ( Volunteers of all ages who have passed our training programme.)
“We will also be joined by the CI regiment who will unveil the Blue Iguana as the official mascot of the CI regiment – we are extremely excited for this,” he said.
Every year on 8 May, BIC celebrates the Grand Cayman blue iguana and the efforts that have been made over many years to conserve them.
This year is the second such celebration.
“Awareness events like International Blue Iguana Day are extremely important as they build community engagement for the programme but more importantly the species and awareness of its role as a flagship for conservation. The success of Blue Iguana Conservation is globally recognized as one of the most successful reptile conservation projects in the world and whilst the effort to save the Blue Iguana is far from over and there is still very long way to go, it is very important to celebrate the achievements so far and look towards the future and continuing the funding and support,” Harding said.
This year there’s no exception to the fun planned for iguana lovers as activities, including iguana feeding, have been planned for Sunday’s event.
“This day is also important to help promote this species and the Cayman Islands on the world stage, in a positive light for our conservation efforts, it something that all of Cayman should be proud off and talk about as a true example of conservation optimism and now, with the power of social media there is no reason that every person can not at the very least post about the Blue Iguana on this day and help spread the message and raise awareness,” he added.
Because Blue Iguana Day falls on Mother’s Day this year, mums can enjoy free entry to the BIC facility.
It costs $5 for entry, while kids under 5 go in for free.
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