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Activity Patterns and Foraging Behavior of the Endangered Grand Cayman Blue Iguana, Cyclura Lewisi

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Activity Patterns and Foraging Behavior of the Endangered Grand Cayman Blue Iguana, Cyclura Lewisi Caribbean Journal of Science, Vol. 43, No. 1, 73-86, 2007 Copyright 2007 College of Arts and Sciences University of Puerto Rico, Mayagu¨ez Activity patterns and foraging behavior of the endangered Grand Cayman blue iguana, Cyclura lewisi RACHEL M. GOODMAN Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee Knoxville, Tennessee 37996, USA Corresponding author: [email protected] ABSTRACT.—The historic rarity of the critically endangered Grand Cayman blue iguana, Cyclura lewisi, has prevented detailed research on this species prior to this decade. This study primarily used focal animal observations, transect sweeps, and radio-telemetry to document the behavioral ecology of a captive-bred, reintroduced population of adult C. lewisi in a botanic park on Grand Cayman. Activity budgets and foraging budgets are presented for each sex in each season, and for all data combined. Distributions of basking time and active time differed between the two seasons. Iguanas both emerged earlier and retreated later in the summer than in the fall. Of the small percentage of time spent active, iguanas mostly foraged and engaged in locomotion. Iguanas spent little time in trees or bushes or inside of retreats during the day. Observations of extensive tongue-touching of retreats, substrates, and feces suggest an importance of chemosensory ability in C. lewisi. Iguanas primarily consumed plant matter, of which the majority was non-cultivated plants in the park and surrounding area. Limited geophagy, coprophagy, and consumption of invertebrates were ob- served. Supplemental feeding contributed little to the overall diet of iguanas, but appeared to make iguanas more aggressive towards humans. Iguanas were heavily habituated to human and vehicular disturbances, which were common occurrences. Aspects of the behavioral ecology of C. lewisi reported here will assist in the conservation of this and other endangered iguanas. KEYWORDS.—lizard, disturbance, management, conservation, time budget, diet, herbivory INTRODUCTION timated to remain in the wild (Burton, Rock iguanas, genus Cyclura (Sauria: 2002). Destruction and alteration of pre- Iguanidae sensu Frost and Etheridge, 1989; ferred habitats, predation by introduced but see discussion of taxonomy in Hollings- cats and dogs, and hunting have probably worth, 2004), are large, primarily herbivo- contributed to the near extinction of C. rous, ground-dwelling lizards found on is- lewisi. At present, all but hunting continue lands in the Caribbean (Alberts, 2000; Al- to threaten the persistence of the species berts et al., 2004). All species are considered (Grant, 1940; Lewis, 1944; Townson, 1980; endangered or vulnerable (IUCN, 2004), Alberts, 2000). The persistence of C. lewisi and many have become the subject of sci- on Grand Cayman will require reintroduc- entific study, captive breeding, and inten- tion and management programs, which re- sive management in the last two decades. quire knowledge of the basic ecology of this Until recently, however, little has been species. documented on the behavior and ecology The National Trust for the Cayman Is- of Cyclura lewisi, the Grand Cayman blue lands began a captive breeding program for iguana. This was in large part due to the his- C. lewisi in 1990 and began releasing cap- toric rarity of this critically endangered spe- tive-bred, adult iguanas into the Queen cies (Grant, 1940; Alberts, 2000; Burton, 2002). Elizabeth II Botanic Park in eastern Grand Cyclura lewisi is endemic to Grand Cay- Cayman in 1996. The small, reintroduced man, where less than 25 individuals are es- population provides an excellent opportu- nity to study C. lewisi and identify potential threats faced by populations in human- ms. received 30 December 2005; accepted 4 October occupied habitats. While the diverse natu- 2006. ral and human-modified habitats found in 73 74 R. M. GOODMAN this park may not reflect the original pre- all 3-7 years of age) were sexually mature ferred habitat of C. lewisi, it is nonetheless adults. Mating was observed in May to important to study the iguanas in this set- June, and nesting and nest defense behav- ting. Little pristine habitat remains on iors were observed in June to early July. Grand Cayman, and management and con- Prior to initiation of this study, iguanas servation of the species must occur under were measured and marked with colored these circumstances. This study provides bead tags on the nuchal crest (Goodman, the first description of the activity patterns 2004). Males (35.8-46.0 cm snout vent and foraging behavior of C. lewisi. Addi- length (SVL), 2.20-4.55 kg) were generally tionally, it assesses habituation to humans larger than females (27.9-37.3 cm SVL; 0.95- and the potential dangers encountered by 2.45 kg). iguanas in human-modified habitats. Data Collection Focal animal observations were per- MATERIALS AND METHODS formed in fall 2001 (4 Sep-14 Oct), summer Study site and animal 2002 (14 Jun-8 Jul), and fall 2002 (25 Sep-11 Nov). Iguanas either did not emerge or did The study site was located in and around not move far from their retreats on overcast the Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park and rainy days. Therefore, observations (QEIIBP) in the eastern interior of Grand were made only on days with no precipi- Cayman (19°19’N, 81°10’W). The eastern tation and less than 75% cloud cover as es- part of the island has a warm wet season timated visually. In the summer, all females from May to November, a cool dry season were observed at least nine days after the from December to April, and receives mean completion of nesting and after cessation of annual rainfall of 111 cm (Burton, 1994). any nest defense. A total of 357.5 h obser- Iguanas initially found in the 24.3 ha park vation time was analyzed: 106.9 h from also used areas outside the park, resulting summer 2002 and 250.6 h from fall 2001 in a total of 55.2 ha used. Both natural and and fall 2002 combined. Altogether, males human-modified habitats are present and were observed for 170.3 h and females were include xeric forests and shrublands, wet- observed for 187.3 h. Total observation time lands, manicured lawns, botanical gardens, per individual averaged 29.7 h (SD = 16.8; buildings, and parking lots (details in range = 8.6-33.9 h). To offset any potential Goodman, 2004; Goodman et al., 2005a). bias in observed activity or location caused Tourism in the park was regularly on the by the initial detection of an iguana (pre- order of tens of visitors daily (<100). Excep- sumably more detectable in open areas), tions to this occurred when greater num- each iguana was followed for the remain- bers of visitors came in the form of school der of the day on which it was detected. group visits or infrequent special events. Each was then tracked from emergence the Approximately 10-20 staff members were following day until the time of the previous on site during regular work hours, 0700- day’s detection. Iguanas moved through a 1700 every day. This activity resulted in variety of habitats and performed many ac- overlap in both time and locations between tivities during this observation period of humans and iguanas. 8.6-13.0 h, likely minimizing any bias in- Iguanas in the study population were curred in locating iguanas. Focal animals captive-bred on site and released at 2-3 were determined before the start of each years of age, when they are of a size session. Thus, animals were not chosen for thought to be less vulnerable to predation observation based upon ease of detection. (Alberts, 2000). The reintroduced popula- Iguanas were mostly followed at a dis- tion in QEIIBP consisted of 15-20 iguanas tance of 10-20 m because they were highly during the study. Data were collected on all habituated to human disturbance (see Re- iguanas within the park that were released sults). Occasionally iguanas moved to- at least one year prior to the initiation of the wards the observer as a consequence of study. All subjects (N = 5 males, 7 females; activities unrelated to the observer’s ACTIVITYAND FORAGING IN CYCLURA LEWISI 75 presence. Unless the iguana approached to (2002) and fall (2001 and 2002 combined for within less than 2 m, the observer remained all analyses) using 1-11 occurrences per motionless during these instances so as not iguana per season (emergence: mean ± to create distraction. All data wherein the SD = 3.8 ± 2.7; retreat: 4.3 ± 3.8). In cases focal animal approached the observer, inci- where an interval of 15-30 min was re- dentally or intentionally, to less than 2 m corded instead of an exact time, the mid- were noted as containing observer interfer- point was used (e.g., if emergence was be- ence and excluded from analyses. The tween 0630 and 0700, the time 0645 was times of initiation and cessation of behav- used). Average emergence and retreat iors and movements (described in Table 1), times of an individual were included in including reactions of iguanas to human analyses only if available from both the disturbances (described in Table 2), were summer and fall. Average times of emer- recorded to the nearest second. gence and retreat were each compared be- Seven female iguanas were radio-tracked tween the two seasons with paired t tests. for two weeks in both summer and fall Normality of differences was verified with 2002, while five males were radio-tracked omnibus normality tests. Unless noted oth- for two weeks during the same seasons (de- erwise, all statistical analyses in this study tails in Goodman et al., 2005b). Addition- were performed in NCSS (Hintze, 2001) ally, iguana locations were monitored with ␣ = 0.05.
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