Little Cayman iguanas slaughtered by careless drivers
(CNS): The deaths of three large iguanas on Little Cayman are thought to have been caused by vehicles, and drivers are being warned to slow down or be issued with a speeding ticket. “We understand that some areas of the Island are dark and drivers may not always see the animals in the road but if you are travelling at the set limit of 25mph you have a greater chance of spotting them,” said Area Commander for the Sister Islands, Chief Inspector Malcolm Kay.
“Anyone caught exceeding the Island-wide 25mph limit will be issued with a ticket,” said Kay, who will be visiting Little Cayman this weekend (Friday 25 – Saturday 26). Residents in Little Cayman who would like to speak to the Chief Inspector on any subject during his visit can reach him on 526 0759 or malcolm.kay@gov.ky.
Anyone with information about crime taking place in the Cayman Islands should contact their local police station or Crime Stoppers on 800-8477 (TIPS). All persons calling Crime Stoppers remain anonymous, and are eligible for a reward of up to $1000, should their information lead to an arrest or recovery of property/drugs.
Category: Local News
We are playingFast and Loose with our native iguanas. Fast cars, Loose dogs and cats. We are blindly allowing the same things that wiped out the wild population of Blue Iguanas on Grand Cayman to do it again on Little Cayman and the Brac. Later, hundreds of thousands of dollars if not millions will be spent on another recovery program.
Cayman Parrots too are being slaughtered by thoughtless acts. Shall we just "let it ride" until the crisis becomes so drastic we have to "recover" them too?
http://www.caymanwildlife.org
I think people who live within these islands fail to realize that when we continue to destroy or islands that we’re destroying the very standard of living for ourselves. The CAYMAN ISLANDS thrive on tourism! And what do the tourists want? Clean waters, clean beaches and to be able to see or native wildlife. It’s like people are so stupid that they ca’t realize this. Doesn’t everyone know that if we lose tourism we’re pretty much stuck with nothing?
This is one of the main reasons why the iguana population on Cayman Brac is also dwindling to the point of extinction.
We had the unfortunate reality of watching someone run over one and my young children were standing right there and saw this, and it could have been avioded because there were no other cars on the road and the person could have swung over to the other side but didn’t.
People need to take pride in what native animals we have left because if they the don’t they wil go the way of the dodo bird; gone and never to return.
Based on personal experience it may not only be careless drivers. Years ago there was a sick dive master resident there who would reportedly operate a points system – 5 Points for a landcrab, 1 point for a red shank, and 100 for an iguana. Trick was to see how many points he could get in a single run between the airfield and point of sand. Luckily the bastard was gotten rid of – but I cannot recall his name. Is he back?