Fauna on Guana Island

[jwg]

In the early days of Guana Island (40's and 50's) the transportation up the hill where the buildings are was via donkey. Now there are a couple of donkeys kept fenced in. They seem friendly and wandered over to see us when we got near - probably looking for food. When we first went there they wandered around loose and occasionally showed up at the beach and nibbled peoples books that they left lying around. Our transportation up and down the hill is feet, but they do offer rides to anyone who wants them.

The owners are very committed to conservation and have re-introduced various plants and animals and cultivate them. In October they have Scientist's Month and enlist them in various projects - one of which is replanting elkhorn coral on the damaged reef. In 1986 they introduced a few almost-extinct Caribbean Rock Iguanas. They wander around loose and you occasionally see them close up. A few years one of the workers used to have a scheduled feeding of one of them at a set time in the morning. They eat fruit and flowers. They believe there are about 1,000 of them on the island now.

There is a cage with 4 tortoises near the owners house; I think they are hoping that they breed - there is one male and three females.

Many years ago there was a small herd of sheep. Now there are a few feral sheep on the island and we saw one close to the road when we were walking up. These sheep look a lot like goats.

Click here for some pictures of Iguanas, donkeys, a tortoise, a pseudo-dog, and a termite nest.

Comments

[rsc.livejournal.com]

they do offer rides to anyone who wants them.

In case anyone is confused about antecedents here, "they" are not the donkeys. The place has motor vehicles now.

[maxauburn.livejournal.com]

I like the slideshow.

I don't care overmuch for reptiles, but
all the other photos appealed to me.