Fiji Iguana: Camouflaged Cutie

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Speaker 1: Hi, I'm Rick Schwartz and I'm Ebani mone. Welcome to Amazing Wildlife, where we explore unique stories of wildlife from around the world and uncover fascinating animal facts. This podcast is a production of My Heart Radio and San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, in international nonprofit conservation organization behind the San Diego Zoo and Safari Park. This next animal is a beautifully colored arboreal species found only in the Fiji Islands. This lizard is perfectly shaded to camouflage with the forests and swamps where it's found. Rick and I are going to dig into what makes the Fiji bandit iguana unique. And we're also talking to San Diego Zoo Curator of Herpetology, Kim Gray to learn what San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance is doing to help protect this endangered species. Rick, can you tell us more about the Fiji iguana's native habitat? I would love to ebony and while as the name suggests, and as you mention and in the opening, to Fiji iguanas are found on the Fijian Islands, and it's worth noting those unfamiliar with this archipelago that the Fijian islands are located in the South Pacific and consist of over three hundred islands. But get this, Fiji iguanas are only found on ten percent of Fiji's three hundred islands as far as actual habitat. When we look specifically at the Fiji banded iguana, they are most prevalent on the wet central islands, generally between six hundred fifty to about a thousand, six hundred and forty feet above sea level. They are arboreal, like you mentioned, which basically means they spend most of their time in the trees, and therefore they are found in areas with high vegetation and trees and worth noting, although they are arboreal like other iguanas, there are also strong swimmers. That's interesting. So are the Fiji iguanas found on different islands somehow different or are they all the same? The answer that one is kind of yes and no. And here's what I mean by that, ebony, A lot of them look the same. But our partners in the field have performed because sensive field surveys collecting samples from nearly two hundred iguanas on thirty different islands. The results from our DNA testing showed that wild Figi iguana populations have a much greater genetic diversity than previously fought. We found out that almost every island population that was sampled has a unique mitochondria haplotype, meaning these populations from the different islands do not have the exact same DNA. That data even suggest there is at least one new species pending morphological assessment, or the assessment of the size, shape and structure of a possible new species. These genetic studies are also very important because they raise new questions about the appropriate conservation actions for the iguanas and therefore help determine priorities for protecting wild populations. Where will we be without researchers. Now, let's talk more about the Fiji iguanas color. Not only are they a unique shade of light green, but they also have a light blue stripe in some cases. I love the color pairing. It's just beautiful. Oh yes, ebony. They're so very beautiful, And if anyone ever has a chance to see them, you know at the San Diego Zoo, you just kinda want to stare at them. But it's not just the beauty here. So the beautiful green and blue colors, they serve as sort of that perfect camouflages for life in the trees. Because their colorations are banded, hence the name Fiji banded iguana, it really helps break up the shape of the body in the trees, so much so that those who research them in the wild often refer to them as blue and green and rarely seen. And it's worth noting males tend to have wider blue or light green stripes along their body, whereas females are generally closer to a solid green, but may have a few white or pale blue markings. Because they live in trees, I'd imagine that's why they aren't too big, but I could be wrong. How big can Fiji iguanas get? Your instincts are on this one are correct, ebony as people who are familiar with iguanas are probably picturing in their mind's eye a green iguana. But the green iguana is much larger than the Fiji bandit iguana. For example, the more widely known green iguana can average a length of six and a half feet in way close to ten or eleven pounds, But our friends, the Fiji bandit iguana, tends to be smaller measuring closer to twenty one inch or less than two feet in length, and more than half of that is just tail really, and a fully mature male weighs in less than half a pound. With life mostly up in the trees. What do Fiji bandit iguanas eat, ebany, The Fiji bandit iguana is pretty much a herbivore or plant eater. They enjoy leaves, flowers, and the fruits that naturally grow in its native habitat. That said, they might occasionally eat a bug here and there, but they don't actively hunt insects like other animals. Rick, we've discussed which Fijian islands are home to the Fiji banit iguanas. So how common is it to spot the Fiji iguana on one of these islands. I think you've mentioned may be tough to spot. Yes, ebony. Like we mentioned before, it's pretty rare. We were discussing their coloration and how they well, they blend into the trees where they live and they're rarely on the ground. In fact, they spend so little time in the ground because they have figured out how to use overlapping limbs of the trees to move from one tree to the next, allowing them to stay well hidden even when they're moving throughout their habitat. Is live above ground typical for most iguanas or is this something very unique to the Fiji bandit iguana. That's a good question. I like that because it really depends on the species of iguana ebony. There are over forty recognized species of iguanas alive today now checked us out. Some of them are living in trees only, some on the ground only, while others will use the trees and grounds to get around however they see fit and get this, I have to do shout out to my favorite. My favorite species of iguana, the marine iguana, makes us home on the beaches of the Glotacus Islands, and they spend a large portion of their times swimming underwater in the ocean feeding on algae. So, when it comes to a typical living arrangements for iguanas, each species seems to have really made the most of whatever habitat it finds itself in. So let's talk about another unique trade. Can you explain the mating dance? Yes, epony iguanas are pretty animated when they're trying to attract a mate, but I'm not sure it's something I call a mating dance. There's not a lot of footsteps involved, so this is what they do. Similar to other iguana species, males will approach a female during courtship with sort of this tongue flicking behavior in rapid head bobs. The males green and blue bands of color tend to become more enhanced during these mating rituals as well. And this is not to be confused with territorial behaviors where males will bob their head as a warning to another male. Although it looks similar, this behavior lacks the tongue flicking. Who knew Figi iguana has had routines, one for attracting a mate and another to say, I guess, stay away exactly, Rick, I understand female Figi bandit iguanas they actually leave the tree tops to lay eggs. How does this process work? Yes, ebony. Although they spend most of their time in the trees like we've talked about, they do nest on the ground. So after making a female will climb down find a suitable spot to dig her burrow and she'll use her feet in her jaws and this burrow that she's digging is usually a little longer than her body length, and once she's completed digging this out, she'll lay a clutch or group of three to six eggs. She will then bury these eggs with soil and leaf litter, patting everything down with her head. Then it's back into the trees for the female. In some cases, it has been recorded that a female will guard the nest from the trees, remaining nearby until they hatch. And it's worth noting that that is considered unusual behavior for an iguana. But in true iguana fashion, neither parents will give care to the offspring. The newly hatched iguanas must find their own food and survive on their own, so some people keep other species of iguanas as pets, but the Fiji iguanas are endangered. I read because people keep the mess pat So what's going on? What's happening? Yeah, unfortunately, it's true, ebney. Although they are not domesticated and require a lot of specialized care, including proper nutrition, housing, and more, people do try to keep iguanas as pets. It is usually the larger green iguana, but in some cases people have taken other iguana species, like the Fiji bandit iguana from the wild for the illegal pet trade and this is very impactful on the species and sadly, it is estimated that the Fiji bandit iguana population has decreased by in the last thirty five to forty years. But that's not just due to the illegal pet trade. The species has experienced habitat loss due to logging, forest burning, and increased agriculture. And like other island species, they have had domestic cats and black rats introduced to the islands and both non native mammal species prey upon iguanas, and the rats are very good at rating nests and eating eggs even before they've had a chance to hatch. Speaking of invasive species, it seems to be a reoccurring yet hard to control role problem. What are some possible solutions, particularly once the species has been in the environment for an extended period of time. Yeah, it really is a problem for many island species, eveny most of them have evolved without the need to defend themselves from these kind of predators, so when they are introduced by humans on purpose or by accident, it can have a big impact on the populations of native species like the Fiji bandit iguana. Good news is because this is a human created problem. We just need to create a solution, and that's what many conservationists are doing. Work is being done to remove non native predatory animals and other non native species that may compete for resources that the Fiji bandit iguana needs. We love good news, and coming up, we'll talk more about conservation efforts to increase Fiji bandit iguana populations with the San Diego Zoo's Curator of Herpetology and ich Biology, Kim Gray. But first this now it's time for the San Diego Zoom Minute, an opportunity for you to learn what's new at the zoo. Fiji iguanas have been making a home at the San Diego Zoo for more than fifty years. The Prince of Tonga gave the zoo six Fiji bandit iguanas in nine and the first hatchling hatched in Did you know? Fiji bandit iguanas feed during the day. In between meals, they basque on the branches in the sun. Like most lizards, these iguanas are able to make their skin darkened. The dark color absorbs more of the sun rays, which helps the iguana warm up more quickly. Don't know We're talking today about the Fiji bandit iguana, found only on the Fijian Islands. The majority of iguana populations are threatened and in decline. The San Diego Zoo has the largest colony of this endangered species outside of Fiji. The zoo manages the species survival program to help ensure the endangered species lives on through breeding, reintroduction programs, field work and education. Kim Gray heads the San Diego Zoo, Wildlife Alliances Fiji banded Iguana Species Survival Program. She's the curator of herpetology and ich theology, Hi, Kim, Hi? So did I say that right? What is the curator of herpetology and ich theology? It's a mouthful, right, yes? So a curator is somebody who basically, I'm responsible for managing all the animal I d S records, keeping track of all this longevity of animal data that we have, and then overseeing the staff that take care of them, and also some field programs in supporting as much conservation work as we can. Herpetology is basically reptiles and amphibians, and ich theology is fish apology is the study of and herbs is reptiles, amphibians, and x is fish things. So what is the alliances Fiji bandit Iguana Species Survival Program? What's what's the main focus? Sure, so it might be a term that you've heard some of US zoo folks say before. A species survival plan is basically, we try to manage our populations within our zoo community and abroad, making sure that we have the most genetic diversity over the longest amount of time. So, for example, we want to keep track of relatives. It's like a family tree, and we want to make sure that we aren't necessarily breeding cousins or brothers and sisters for obvious reasons. But we want to maintain healthy populations. So that's kind of the overview of it. And then certain components of that are used also in for example, fish and Wildlife service rewilding programs, all kinds of things. The Fiji banit Iguana Species Survival Program was founded years ago after an interesting discovery I understand made within the colony of the Fiji iguanas at the zoo. What did researchers learn about the colonies great great grandparents, right, I think our great great great grandparents a long time ago, so we were really curious because our animals had a little bit of some unique patterns and morphology we called morphology, so their scales were looked a little bit different and their size was a little bit different, and scientists we use those key characters to help us identify species. Right and at the time, we thought there was crested iguanas and banded iguanas just two species. So we thought we might have a hybrid in our population, and we wanted to look at if maybe our group could serve as like a chance to read wild again, to put these animals back into the wild and Fiji or learn as much as we could about them and see if that's even a possibility. And sure enough, we looked at genetics with some sister institutions in Australia and compared animals and lo and behold, we did we have a little bit of crested genetic material in our group. And that kind of makes sense because the group that we have at the San Diego Zoo stems from animals that were actually rescued in Fiji. A long time facility there had them and they were one off animals that were maybe found in a farm or maybe someone's cat had accidentally injured an animal or after a storm, so we were actually recipients of rescued animals. It kind of makes sense that there would be some mixed genetics in there. So you've mentioned the crested iguana and the bandit iguana. How many different types of Fijian iguanas are there? Sure so currently known to science, meaning that there's been a published, peer reviewed scientific article published on them. There's four. However, we're well aware that that's likely much higher, so it's just a matter of completing these published findings and describing more species to science. But the crested and banded iguana, those are simple names that we give them, but they all have varying levels of crests on their back, and they all have varying levels of bands. So it's kind of why we give them a general term of Fijian iguanas because we just aren't really sure how many species there really are. They're very cryptic and we're certain that on some very specific islands there are unique species. So what's the difference between the Fiji bandit iguana and say, the Fiji crested iguana. Okay, so we talked about morphology, and again that's the term we use to just describe things like how tall is the crest, how long are their toes, how many bands do they have, how many scales they have around their eyes. All these unique characters help us determine the differences, and in general, the crested iguanas are bigger, they're found more on the dry side, and the bandits are typically more found on the wet side. I'm not sure if you've heard of that terminology when you're speaking of tropical islands similar to Hawaii, have a dry side and a wet side depending on which way the winds blow and bring in the rain. So these animals have adapted to like dry side and outside of the island. What's crazy cool, though, is that their ancestors, the great great, great great great great infinity grandfather. We found out our local iguana, the desert iguana that's found in San Diego County, is their closest relative. Like mind blowing, right, Like how is this? Yeah, So there's even more questions that we'd love to help answer. In speaking of the different species of iguana, you mentioned that there's four that have been scientifically identified. There was a discovery of one of the species as recently as twenty seventeen. Can you tell us about that and how exciting is that from your perspective? Right? Very exciting, especially because these are my colleagues that we work closely with. I was very happy for them to see this get published. So they had done some work back in two thousand thirteen and going out in the field and collecting some genetic samples and measuring the iguanas, and they've noticed that this one specific island, although it looks like a bandit iguana, it was very unique, much smaller, different characteristics and found only on that small island. So getting to describe it, what that does is it helps us not only learned that there's this unique species, but maybe there's some different characteristics that helped it survives specific to that island that we need to help ensure also survives. So where does your passion for reptiles come from? That's a good question. I love reptiles and amphibians, and particularly Fiji iguanas, but also crocodiles. Really, I just could go on and on and on about them. When I was really little, my dad used to take me to a zoo back home in Canada, like every day in the summer, and I loved it, and then we even built a pond in our backyard that had native frogs. You know, it's funny. I wanted to work with king cobras when I was little, so that's that was my goal in life. Work with king Cobra's this passion. I don't know where it comes from. I just love them. I think they're the underdog. I think people either love them or hate them, but there's just people have a lot of questions about them, and certainly with the Fiji and iguanas, they're so beautiful. To get to share information with people and help them learn more about why they're worth saving is what I love to do. So how does identifying the different species of figina iguanas help with conservation efforts? Sure? So, once we know how many species there are, we certainly learn about what unique habitats they live in and what threats they have, so we can help mitigate or like remove those threats. But also we have to help prioritize. So there's so many species that are in trouble, and amongst the figina iguana is certainly there's some that have more protected areas or have more habitat available to them. So they might be a different priority than a species that's got less habitat or more threats. So we just have to work through that process because there is limited resources and time is of the essence and helping these species, so that really does help us prioritize saving them. So part of the species survival program, one element is education. What about keeping iguanas for pets. What's the status of laws regulations preventing that. What's the status of educating the public about the status of figina iguanas and whether or not they could be kept as pets. Certainly they are commonly kept in the pet trade in Europe and that's one of the threats that they face as wildlife trafficking. Fiji has strict laws. This is a Society's listed species. Society's is a type of governmental regulation. It's a permitting process that allows trade of animals. But they're listed as Appendix one, meaning they have the highest level of protection. Fiji also on International Biodiversity Day in twenty they elevated their laws protecting and enforcing laws to care for figina iguanas within Fiji, so they're really protected. Unfortunately, people do like them. They are very pretty they're not very large, so people want to keep them as pets. So there's always more appropriate species of reptile that you could have. For example, leopard get goes make a good pet, but not a Fiji iguana, and we try to encourage folks to think about that, and also just know that if you want to see a Fiji, want to come to the San Diego Zoo check them out, or go to Fiji and see them in the wild. You don't necessarily need to have them at home or help with just that whole illegal trade and wildlife. Yeah, so what are some next steps and the conservation efforts for figia iguanas. We have the recovery plan that we spoke of, so it's like a roadmap of what our next steps are. And certainly I miss going to Fiji. I haven't been since the pandemic happened. But next steps for us are we have our brand new habitat for them over in our Well Life Explorers base camp, which I'm super excited about. So we're gonna highlight them there and talk to kids and adults everybody about how much amazing work we've done over in Fiji. We have partnerships with the National Trust and ongoing ones with us GS, which is United States Geological Survey, which we will work with them in Fiji again working on items in that roadmap, so things like reforestation. We're working on training up rangers, local community level management to help assess and make sure the iguanas are doing well on their local islands, and key partners will be working on education and classroom programs there, and also the tourist industry to help inform folks who go on vacation what they can do to help protect them and care for them in the wild and support conservation work. Those are some of the things. There's plenty on the list. That to do list is long, but we're working on it. We've been talking to Kim Gray, the curator of Herpetology and ich biology at the San Diego Zoo. Thanks so much for talking with us. Thank you, thanks for listening. We hope you enjoyed learning about the Fiji bandit iguana and be sure to subscribe and tune into next week's episode, in which we bring to the story of a bird so big some call it the thunderbird because I believe the bird brings thunder to the skies with the beating of his huge wings. I'm Ebony Money and I'm Rich Schwartz. Thanks for listening. If you would like to find out more about the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, please visit sdz w a dot org. Amazing Wildlife is a production of I Heart Radio. Our producer is Nikia Swinton and our executive producer is Marci to Peanut. Our audio engineer and editor is Sierra Screen. For more shows from My Heart Radio, check out the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.