I work for the Saint Lucia National Trust (SLNT) who's mandate is to conserve and protect Saint Lucia's Natural and Built Heritage. The Maria Islands Nature Reserve was given to the SLNT to conserve by the government. The conservation works we do on the islands helps preserve it for all the species there especially the Saint Lucia Whiptail lizard which gives it a safe haven to run around, lay eggs and feed away from predators. The main predators of the Whiptail lizard are rats, cats and humans. Yes kids humans are a threat to the whiptail population. Sadly the activities of humans on these offshore islands can be harmful. For example some humans visits these islands and leave behind plastic bottles, some plastics float from the main land over to Maria Islands, if a Whiptail lizard were to be trapped in there the hot sun would kill it. As a result of this on all of our outings to Maria Island s we do garbage collection. Another major threat to Maria Islands are Wild fires. Saint Lucia has two seasons;the wet season which is from May to December and the Dry season from November to April. During the dry season the islands get very dry and is at threat to a potential bush fire. If such fire were to happen on Maria Island which is the mother land of the Saint Lucia Whiptail Lizard that population and other species will be lost forever. Because of this the Whiptail lizard was trans located to two other offshore islands namely Praslin Island and Rat Islet thus saving the species from total destruction.
Our conservation works are always on going because of the many threats to the islands and the unique biodiversity found there. SLNT gets most of its' of funding from outside donors like Durrell to help with our conservation mandate. Staff has been trained by experts like Dr. Nik Cole of Durrell. With the continued support of these funding agencies we can preserve and conserve Maria Islands Nature Reserve for future generations of Saint Lucia Whiptail Lizard and the other species who live there.
Below is the flank side of the male and female Whiptail lizard that we're photographing to use with the Wild I.D software during the population survey.
Hi Saphire
ReplyDeleteClass 8.4 would like to ask..........
How does the whiptail lizard catch its prey?
Do they use their tales as a whip?
Have you ever been whipped?
What do they hunt?
Are they poisonous?
Can you describe their habitat?
How do they play?
Can they mix with different animals?
Do they have to live in a hot country?
Can they change colour?
How old is the oldest Lizard in history?
Thanks very much
Hello Simon,
ReplyDeleteWhiptail lizards feed on insects, fruit and smaller lizards. Using both sight and smell they forage through leaf litter in search of food. When a prey is spotted they flick out their tongues to catch it.
Whiptails got their name from their tails looking like a whip, however i have never seen one use its' tail as such.
The Whiptail is a non poisonous lizard.
They can be found in leaf litter where food is readily available. the younger ones stay mostly in the shrubbery to keep away from their predators.
When playing two Whiptails can be seen chasing each other at high speed in a game of tag.
Maria Islands are home to many other animals like birds, insects, snakes, turtles and scorpions, they all share it as one big home.
Saint Lucia is a tropical country with hot temperatures 26 - 28 degrees Celsius or 80 - 83 degrees Fahrenheit.
All whiptails are born brown in color, during adulthood the males take on the striking color of our national flag (blue, yellow, black and white). They do not change color like a cameleon.
I currently don't know the age of the oldest Whiptail in history. Class 8.4 has given me a challenge to find out. By my next post I will tell you the age of the grandaddy of the Whiptails or maybe the great granddaddy. :)
Thanks for your interesting questions.
Class of 8.4 the oldest know Whiptail in history was 8 years old.
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