Bonaire locals hate iguanas?

[rayaa3]

I don't agree with animal cruelty, but invasive species can become a nuisance pretty quick.
Don't know about Bonaire but iguanas in South Florida are a huge PITA. Anyone with a seawall, pool and/or flowers in their property knows first hand how damaging they can be.
If they are as bad in Bonaire, I don't blame the locals for wanting to get rid of them, but there are swift ways to deal with the issue , no need to waste time or be cruel.

This is why the local condo owners don't like them....

As to my original observation...killing a species because it damages your property I can certainly understand (though that understanding has limits).

Laughing and smiling while you stomp it with your foot (what we personally witnessed) that's just cruelty.

 

[Graeme Fraser]

I cannot abide animal cruelty and would probably end up being arrested if I witnessed this behaviour firsthand!

 

[Zef]

This is why the local condo owners don't like them....

As to my original observation...killing a species because it damages your property I can certainly understand (though that understanding has limits).

Laughing and smiling while you stomp it with your foot (what we personally witnessed) that's just cruelty.

Where do you draw the line? Is it ok to step on a cockroach? an ant? swat a mosquito or fly?

-Z

 

[agilis]

Iguanas are native to much of the Caribbean, including Curacao, Bonaire, and Aruba. It's the present human population that are the invasive species. Destroying native creatures because they create problems for things like pools and gardens is reprehensible. Deer frequently damage my trees and plantings by eating them, but I don't mind. They were here first.

 

[deeper thoughts]

I cannot abide animal cruelty and would probably end up being arrested if I witnessed this behaviour firsthand!

I was going to say the same thing!

 

[Ana]

Iguanas are native to much of the Caribbean, including Curacao, Bonaire, and Aruba. It's the present human population that are the invasive species. Destroying native creatures because they create problems for things like pools and gardens is reprehensible. Deer frequently damage my trees and plantings by eating them, but I don't mind. They were here first.

Are you sure they are native to the ABC's? Just because they've been there a long time, doesn't mean they are native.
Not challenging you... I don't know for sure, but usually native creatures tend to have native predators otherwise things go out of whack. The fact Bonaire is having iguanas balls high is probably a sign they may not be native. Of course, it could also be the case that the predators somehow disappear, again... I don't know for sure.

I do know they aren't native to South Florida and I'm sick of having them screw my seawall and backyard in general. Don't enjoy killing them one bit, but I do when I can.

 

[rmorgan]

The predominant species on Bonaire is the green iguana "Iguana Iguana"), identifiable by the (usually) white large, smooth scale on the cheeks which other iguanas don't have. Ana, a number of references do classify them as native to Bonaire, which I assume means they were there before Capt. Don. And "chicken of the trees" are a reliable, cheap foodsource on the island.

Confusion over their status is understandable. On Grand Cayman, registrants can register to cull green iguanas and are paid $5 for each carcass: The green iguanas have done enormous damage to the populations of native blue and rock iguanas on Grand, and are a real disaster (as they also are in Florida). They hit the millionth culled iguana payment when we were there in early November 2019. On Little Cayman, green iguanas are non-native, and considered so destructive that identification of one on the island amounts to an ecological emergency (here's a semi-puff piece about the fierce and fun woman who is spearheading the effort on Little Cayman, Champion of the rock iguanas - Cayman Compass). The greens undermine buildings (and, recently in Florida, a dam) and denude trees--and saddest, can do serious damage to bird populations by preying on eggs and nestlings. (Last fall, I watched one outlast a Great Blue Heron on a hummock in Wakodahatchee Wetlands, a wonderful preserve in Delray Beach, and then move in on the eggs.)

We've always enjoyed seeing the green iguanas on Bonaire, and will doubtless do so again when we head down next month. But where they are recent invasives, they can be a huge problem.

 

[Daebado]

Years ago, a friend of mine caught ringworm from petting a donkey on St. John's (near St. Maarten)

Ok, sure.... a "friend" (wink, wink)!

 

[agilis]

Are you sure they are native to the ABC's? Just because they've been there a long time, doesn't mean they are native.
Not challenging you... I don't know for sure, but usually native creatures tend to have native predators otherwise things go out of whack. The fact Bonaire is having iguanas balls high is probably a sign they may not be native. Of course, it could also be the case that the predators somehow disappear, again... I don't know for sure.

I do know they aren't native to South Florida and I'm sick of having them screw my seawall and backyard in general. Don't enjoy killing them one bit, but I do when I can.

They are native to the Dutch islands, along with many other Caribbean Islands and the Bahamas. They have been extirpated from some islands where they were once were common, largely because they are an excellent source of protein. One of my most memorable experiences in more than 50 years of traveling the Caribbean happened in 1991 when I got to see a Jamaican Iguana (Cyclura collie). The species had been classified as extinct since the 1940s, but in 1990 a few dozen survivors were discovered in the Hellshire Hills, very difficult terrain in extreme southern Jamaica. Most Caribbean islands have been stripped of their flora and fauna to a heartbreaking extent. To eliminate a few large lizards because they interfere with beach resort property designs is morally indefensible. I've seen shallow water reefs teeming with life draglined out of existence to create soft sandy beaches easily wadeable by tourists. I've seen wonderful rainforests bulldozed for superclubs. Is there no limit to human destructiveness? Have we no shame?

 

[chillyinCanada]

Ok, sure.... a "friend" (wink, wink)!

Hehe, twas indeed a friend, in that I've never been to that island and knowing of his experience, I will certainly not be patting any donkeys!