This Is My Dish Bowl! (Enclosure) by TheBootesArtVoid on DeviantArt (original) (raw)

Species Name: Fiji Crested Iguana

Species Latin Name: Brachylophus vitiensis

Native To: Some northwestern islands of the Fijian Archipelago

Also Known As: Fijian Crested Iguana

Conservation Status: Critically Endangered

Photo Taken At: Melbourne Zoo

Size (length): 56 - 75cm (22 - 30 inches)

Weight: 150 -300g (0.3 - 0.7 pounds)

Lifespan: 10 – 25 years

Population: Less than 4,000

Population Trend: Decreasing

Diet: Herbivore

Lifestyle: Terrestrial, oviparous, precocial, burrowing

Breeding Season: March - April

Male Name: Ministro, garrobo, male

Baby Name: hatchlings, garrobito, iguanita

Incubation Period: 189 days – 9 months

Eggs Per Clutch: 4-6 eggs

Age of Sexual Maturity: 2-3 years

Description:

The Fiji Crested Iguana is a large stocky lizard with bright green scales with three distinguished white to white stripes across their bodies, black scales can sometimes be seen between where the white and green scales normally meet. This species can be further distinguished by the spiny 'crest' that runs from the nape of their necks to base of their tails. The males can be easily told apart from the females as the males have large femoral pores. The genders can be told apart by the bands on their bodies, it is stated that the bands on the males will appear to be a form of whitish green where as the females bands will appear in a form of whitish blue. The juveniles will be born with a more dark green colouration to their scales, this dark green will turn into the more bright green in the adults within a matter of hours after birth.

Diet:

These iguana's are primarily herbivorous and will usually live off fruits, leaves, shoots, and flowers from trees and shrubs. As these lizards tend to eat both the new leaves as well as large flowers their habitats are generally restricted to tropical dry forests and similar habitats on islands in western Fiji. They are particularly fond of the sweet hibiscus flowers of the Vau Tree (Hibiscus tiliaceus). Whilst these animals tend to be herbivorous in nature it has been observed for hatchlings in captivity to eat insects.

Behaviour:

Fiji Crested Iguana's do not communicate via verbal means, instead they resort to various displays depdending on their circumstance. These animals have the ability to quickly change the colour of their green scales depending on the level of threat they believe to be under. The scales will turn to a darker green if they feel the threat is moderate, if they feel that the threat is serious their green scales will turn into a more black colouration. If the change in colour of their scales isn't enough to deter the perceived threat they will resort to expanding their neck and bobbing their heads up and down, if this still isn't enough they will resort to pouncing towards the threat and attacking. This behaviour isn't only used against potential predators, males will display this behaviour towards rival males that are potentially within their territory. These iguana's may also resort to whipping their tail in a violent manner as a means to defend themselves.

During mating season the males will find a female and try to convince her to mate with rituals that involve bobbing their heads, flicking out their tongues, and by enlarging their dewlaps as a means to impress the female. Breeding will take place between the months of March and April, the courtship rituals to attract a mate will generally take place a few months earlier in January. This species have the longest incubation periods of any other reptiles with incubation periods lasting for as long as 9 months. The females will dig a hole where she will then lay about 3 to 5 eggs before filling the hole or burrow. The females can often be seen defending the eggs during this time defending them from predators until they hatch. The hatchlings will be independent on birth and they will initially feed on leaves deriving moisture from the wet leaves they eat or lick.

Threats:

This species is subject to be preyed on by introduced species such as rats, mongooses as well as domestic and feral cats. These animals are also hunted by humans for food as well as to be traded as pets. One of the larger threats this species had to face were the introduction of feral goats which had severely competed against this species for food. Fires were also started in large quantities in order to drive and capture the feral goats. The goats were introduced in the early 1970's and the iguana's were only discovered a decade later around the 1980's. Since the discover of this species of iguana nearly all of the feral goats were removed and fires were banned, this has thankfully resulted in regaining their food sources as well as lost habitat. Since the discovery of this species they have been recognized as a species that needs protection and at least one of the islands they inhabit has been declared a sanctuary. In 2002 five adult specimens were stolen from one of the Fiji islands, the smuggler was caught before being able to leave however, this lead to the island being prohibited from tourists whilst only allowing researchers to enter. Further restrictions are placed to protect the wild population from disease by forbidding the return of any lizard that happens to leave the island where they are protected.

With the current numbers less being potentially less than 4,000 and their numbers projected to continue to decrease it appears a lot more is needed to be done to protect this species. It appears further research may be required to better understand this species and their needs in order to better combat the issues they face. There are calls to take further action in removing introduced predators such as rats, cats, etc in a similar manner that was done with the goats. Some islands have around 80 individuals on them whilst others have as little as 15 individuals reported, there are concerns that for some of these islands a population crash could occur which could then turn into localized extinction events.

Further Reading (general information):

Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiji_cre…

Nature Fiji: naturefiji.org/crested-iguana-…

Kidadl: kidadl.com/animal-facts/fiji-b…

Animalia: animalia.bio/fiji-crested-igua…