Lesser Antillean iguana

Iguana delicatissima

The lesser Antillean iguana was heavily hunted because its meat is considered to be particularly tender and tasty, and is now critically endangered. The suffix ‘delicatissima’ means ‘very delicious’ and is said to refer to the quality of its meat.

Red List

Critically Endangered

Breeding programme

The lesser Antillean iguana is also known as the green island iguana. However, only juveniles display this vivid green colouring. In adults, it changes to a brownish-grey.

Females are about a third smaller than males and have a smaller head in proportion to their body size.

The suffix ‘delicatissima’ in the scientific name is derived from Latin and means ‘very delicious’. The term refers to the animals’ meat, which is said to be very tender and tasty. For this reason, many Lesser Antillean iguanas have been poached.

This happens less often these days, but the reptile now faces other dangers. The animals are eaten by dogs and cats or run over by cars. Furthermore, the expansion of farmland is reducing and fragmenting their habitat.

Furthermore, the closely related green iguana is displacing the lesser Antillean iguana because it reproduces at a much faster rate.