Seventeen endangered Blue Iguanas have hatched this year, from the National Trust's captive breeding program at the QE II Botanic Park. It's the largest hatch ever in the 12 years that the Trust has been breeding this uniquely Caymanian reptile in an attempt to save it from extinction. The excellent hatch success is being attributed to improved diet, which now includes fresh fruit and vegetables donated from surplus stocks by Kirk's and Hurley's supermarkets, collected and fed to the captive iguanas by volunteers Mars van Leifde, Tom & Phyllis Abate, and Lesley Donegan. The operation is coordinated by Lois Blumenthal, who also cared for the seventeen eggs through their long incubation period.

Meanwhile, five females released into the wild from the captive breeding facility over recent years, nested in the Botanic Park in June and July. Researchers who had been monitoring the nest sites twice daily, recently experienced the birth of the wild born hatchlings. Evidence from this year's field research also indicates that at least one released iguana bred successfully in the Park for the first time, last year.

These exciting developments show that the years of effort the Trust and volunteers and visiting specialists have put into this program, are paying off. This year the programme is also receiving a boost from substantial additional funding and international support, arising from a grant from the UK Foreign Office's Environment Fund for the Overseas Territories.

A postgraduate student from the University of Tennessee, Rachel Goodman, has commenced her Master's degree project studying the released Blue Iguana population in the QE II Botanic Park. Working with the Trust's former Environmental Programs Director, Fred Burton, Rachel is mapping the precise territory occupied by each iguana, noting critical factors such as food sources, secure overnight retreats, basking areas and interactions with other iguanas. Building on work earlier in the year by Fred and another University of Tennessee postgraduate student (Bridget Donaldson), Rachel is amassing a large volume of data which will enable the Trust to estimate the maximum number of wild iguanas the Park can support.

One fascinating result so far is that two completely wild iguanas, from the scattered and struggling remnant population in Grand Cayman's east interior, have been attracted by the released iguana population in the Park and have taken up permanent residence there.

The project will become even more active in November this year. First a set of blood samples will be collected from both captive and released iguanas, to be shipped in a chilled container to a specialty laboratory at Bronx Zoo. Blood nutrient levels will be examined to determine if either captive or wild animals are suffering from any shortcomings in their diet.

On 10th November the Trust will host the annual meeting of the World Conservation Union's Iguana Specialist Group, part of the Species Survival Commission's international network of conservation workers. Members of the Iguana Specialist Group will then join with local participants over 11th to 13th November, to develop a formal Species Recovery Plan for the Grand Cayman Blue Iguana. This exercise will chart the course for the Trust's iguana conservation work in the forthcoming 5-10 years, and will lay the foundations for ongoing international support.

The excellent hatch success is being attributed to improved diet, which now includes fresh fruit and vegetables donated from surplus stocks by Kirk's and Hurley's supermarkets, collected and fed to the captive iguanas by volunteers Mars van Leifde, Tom & Phyllis Abate, and Lesley Donegan.

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