Blue Iguana No Longer Considered Endangered Species Due To Success In Breeding

In this Friday, Aug. 3, 2012, file photo, an adult Grand Cayman Blue Iguana nicknamed “Biter” is shown shedding its dead skin at the Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park on the island of Grand Cayman. Blue iguanas on Grand Cayman island are no longer considered a critically endangered species. A decade ago, there were just 10 to 25 blue iguanas living in the wild and they were listed as critically endangered. It’s a major victory for a breeding program that rears and releases blue iguanas on Grand Cayman, the only place in the world where the turquoise-colored reptiles live in the wild. Fred Burton is the director of the Blue Iguana Recovery Program. In a Friday, Oct. 19, 2012, statement, he said the program is confident that it can achieve its long-term goal of restoring 1,000 blue iguanas to Grand Cayman’s shrublands. <AP Photo/David McFadden, file>