Cyclura Nubila - Conservation

Conservation

The Cuban iguana is well-established in public and private collections. Many zoological parks and private individuals keep them in captive breeding programs, minimizing the demand for wild-caught specimens for the pet trade. Cuban iguanas are listed as "vulnerable" on the IUCN Red List. The total population in Cuba is estimated at between 40,000 and 60,000 individuals, and the feral population on Isla Magueyes is estimated at over 1,000. According to Allison Alberts, Chief Conservation Officer of the San Diego Zoo and lead researcher in Cuba, among the many wildlife species at GTMO, "The Cuban Iguana is one of the largest, undoubtedly the most visible, and certainly the most charismatic. It seems that no one completes a tour of duty at GTMO without getting to know these prehistoric-looking giants."

In a round-about way, the Cuban iguana's status under the US Endangered Species Act made its way into US jurisprudence. In the fall of 2003, attorney Tom Wilner needed to persuade the justices of the US Supreme Court to take the case of a dozen Kuwaiti detainees being held in isolation in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, without charges, without a hearing and without access to a lawyer. According to Peter Honigsberg, a professor of law at the University of San Francisco, Wilner unsuccessfully made two arguments before the Court to hear his case; in his third argument he changed tactics by mentioning US law and the Cuban iguana. Wilner argued, "Anyone, including a federal official, who violates the Endangered Species Act by harming an iguana at Guantanamo, can be fined and prosecuted. Yet the government argues that US law does not apply to protect the human prisoners there". According to Honigsberg, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case because of this argument.