The Anegada iguana conservation program is a collaboration between San Diego Zoo Global, Fort Worth Zoo, the British Virgin Islands National Parks Trust, and the World Conservation Union's IUCN Iguana Specialist Group. Through applied ecological research, public education and awareness, local capacity building, and population enhancement through headstarting, this unique program has brought the critically endangered Anegada iguana back from the brink of extinction. The 125th headstarted iguana has now been repatriated on Anegada, increasing the size of the wild population by approximately 30 percent. An initiative is underway to establish a centralized breeding and headstarting facility on Puerto Rico for this and other endangered Caribbean iguana species. This has the potential to significantly increase the number of captive-bred and headstarted iguanas available for population supplementation and reintroduction efforts.
