With traffic starting to increase in the eastern districts of Grand Cayman, one local company has stepped up to help protect the iconic blue iguanas, that are found nowhere else in the world.
Mariner Surf Company, which makes apparel and limited edition hats, recently designed and paid for two signs to be installed along Queens Highway encouraging motorists to be aware of the endemic species and to drive carefully to avoid hitting them.
This is also an issue on Little Cayman where drivers are warned to look out for the Sister Islands rock iguana.
“We are incredibly grateful to Mica [Koll, an owner of Mariner Surf Company] because this is a problem for blue iguanas,” said Catherine Childs, environmental programmes manager at the National Trust for the Cayman Islands.
The blue iguana population is recovering with the help of the National Trust’s captive breeding programme, but they are still vulnerable to feral cats and dogs, and also cars driving on roads that are close to the wilderness areas where they live.
“The National Trust worked hard for many, many years to bring these amazing creatures back from the edge of extinction. They were nearly gone in the early 2000s,” Childs added.
At one point it was believed there were fewer than 30 blue iguanas remaining but through the Blue Iguana Conservation Programme over 1,200 have been released into the wild, with many heading into the Salina Reserve and the Colliers Wilderness Reserve, both of which are located in East End.
The blue iguanas occasionally travel out of these wilderness areas and onto roads, where they are vulnerable, unless motorists are vigilant about the possibility there may be reptiles crossing the roads.
“We want to help increase awareness and minimise the collisions as much as possible because these blue iguanas as still highly endangered and they are an important part of our environment and culture,” said Koll.
Previously, the Mariner Surf Company installed turtle-awareness signs in Grand Cayman and they also organise a number of fundraising and environmental projects each year, including beach clean-ups. A percentage of the sale price of the company’s blue iguana hat goes to support the Blue Iguana Conservation Programme.
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