The Cuban rock iguana is the largest of the West Indian iguanas, one of the most endangered groups of lizards in the world. This largely herbivorous species with red eyes, a thick tail, and spiked jowls is one of the largest lizards in the Caribbean.
The Cuban rock iguana is distributed throughout the rocky southern coastal areas of mainland Cuba and its surrounding islands with a feral population thriving on Isla Magueyes, Puerto Rico. Females guard their nest sites and often nest in sites excavated by Cuban crocodiles. As a defense measure, the Cuban iguana often makes its home within or near prickly-pear cacti.
Although the wild population is in decline because of predation by feral animals and habitat loss caused by human agricultural development, the numbers of iguanas have been bolstered as a result of captive-breeding and other conservation programs. The Cuban rock iguana has been used to study evolution and animal communication, and its captive-breeding program has been a model for other endangered lizards in the Caribbean.
IUCN Red List status: Vulnerable
Overall the population is declining with its area of occupancy having decreased in size and quality by at least 30% during the last 50 years. Outside of protected areas, they are now extremely scarce and considered functionally extinct. The primary threats are habitat loss, degradation, and fragmentation due to urbanization, accentuated by the presence of invasive predators, and the predicted increase in storm surges causing habitat alteration.
