NOVEMBER
2001 UPDATE: MONITORING OUR LONG CAY
IGUANAS
The development on Big Ambergris Cay is currently on hold
due to financial difficulties. The
urgent need to move animals has been eliminated for the
present so the relocation of animals to Long Cay is for
the present suspended. This suspension
of development has allowed us to concentrate our efforts
on monitoring the condition and establishment of the more
than 400 animals we relocated to Long Cay.
On
this expedition we centered our work on recapturing individuals
we previously relocated to Long Cay and capturing and tagging
Long Cay juveniles that have hatched there in the past two
years.
Condition
During the last field session, November
2001, we endeavored to recapture 20 animals from Long Cay
and compare their condition with that of 20 animals caught
on Big Ambergris Cay during the same period. Iverson (1979,
Bull. Fl. Museum of Biol. Sciences, Vol. 24) established
that, in Cyclura carinata, there is
a significantly linear relationship between the log of body
weight and the log of snout-vent length. If
weight is plotted on the y-axis, proportionately heavier
animals will tend to lie on the upper side of the line.
Most Long Cay animals do, which we interpret to mean
they remain well fed and in good condition.
All
but the largest iguana, originally a 1700 g male, weighed
more than they had when we caught them last (see table below).
Average weight change was 310 g (range –250 – 825).
The most impressive growth occurred in a male that
had almost tripled in size (2.7 times his capture weight)
after 18 months.
Relative
condition as demonstrated by log body weight versus log
snout-vent length (SVL) of iguanas on Long and Big Ambergris
Cays in November 2001.
To our delight we recaptured “Adam” (PIT tag # 21369B6),
the first iguana we released on Long Cay at the end of the
cat eradication effort. He weighed 1150g
when we released him in November 1999 but dropped to 950g
over the next three months while being radiotracked.
On this trip, exactly two years later, it was pleasing
to see his weight was back up (1175g). He
looked fine, nothing remarkable, and only later when the
data were typed in did we realize who he was!
Capture
and Recapture Weights in Long Cay Iguanas, November 2001
|
Iguana ID
|
PIT tag ID
|
Original Release
on Long Cay
|
Recapture
|
Capture
Weight
|
Recapture
Weight
|
Weight
Change
|
Months
|
Sex
|
|
140
|
1d0d703
|
February-00
|
November-01
|
375
|
525
|
150
|
21
|
m
|
|
123
|
1d0b98d
|
February-00
|
November-01
|
450
|
500
|
50
|
21
|
f
|
|
313
|
600c090
|
May-00
|
November-01
|
475
|
1300
|
825
|
18
|
m
|
|
71
|
1d1658b
|
February-00
|
November-01
|
575
|
875
|
300
|
21
|
m
|
|
318
|
169cbf9
|
May-00
|
November-01
|
650
|
1325
|
675
|
18
|
m
|
|
281
|
1d056be
|
May-00
|
November-01
|
675
|
1175
|
500
|
18
|
m
|
|
343
|
216bcfd
|
May-00
|
November-01
|
750
|
1425
|
675
|
18
|
m
|
|
176
|
1f66679
|
February-00
|
November-01
|
750
|
900
|
150
|
21
|
m
|
|
321
|
180bbfd
|
May-00
|
November-01
|
775
|
1125
|
350
|
18
|
m
|
|
76
|
1d01da7
|
February-00
|
November-01
|
775
|
1150
|
375
|
21
|
m
|
|
224
|
1f69920
|
February-00
|
November-01
|
875
|
1600
|
725
|
21
|
m
|
|
61
|
1be05f1
|
February-00
|
November-01
|
925
|
1100
|
175
|
21
|
m
|
|
209
|
1bef9ed
|
February-00
|
November-01
|
925
|
1050
|
125
|
21
|
m
|
|
15
|
1be0f89
|
November-99
|
November-01
|
950
|
1100
|
150
|
24
|
m
|
|
Adam
|
21369b6
|
November-99
|
November-01
|
1150
|
1175
|
25
|
24
|
m
|
|
397
|
6007411
|
November-00
|
November-01
|
1175
|
1450
|
275
|
12
|
m
|
|
395
|
6005277
|
November-00
|
November-01
|
1750
|
1500
|
-250
|
12
|
m
|
|