~ Iguanas flocking to Dawn Beach killed ~
OYSTER POND--The situation concerning animals left at Iguana Park has led Nature Foundation (NF) to advise government to act immediately to remedy the situation of the creatures observed in “various states of abandonment.”
On further investigation, it seems that development at the park also has formed just a part of the reason iguanas have been flocking to Dawn Beach, where some reportedly are being killed in front of horrified tourists.
As reported in Friday’s edition of The Daily Herald, the park’s animals were observed by this newspaper to be housed at the deserted park without food or water for an unclear amount of time.
However, this newspaper was contacted on Friday by Ralph Joseph, who said he had been hired to sustain the animals during the business’ relocation. Joseph said he gave them food and water every day, once per day in the morning.
While there is no way for this newspaper to confirm or disprove this, the observation can only be given that this newspaper visited the site on Thursday and Friday at nearly the same time in the evening, and while all food and water bowls were bone-dry on Thursday, there was plenty of water on Friday for most animals, as well as fresh food in the bowls and on cage floors.
Cage floors for the raccoons and monkey also were cleaned up on Friday. This was especially in stark contrast to the monkey’s cage floor which had been covered in old kennip remnants the evening before.
Housed in the park are two raccoons, four waterbirds, two rabbits, two donkeys, a monkey and a boa constrictor. Only two of the free-to-roam iguanas were still spotted on site.
Evaluation
NF observed during its site visit, not long after the animals had been fed that morning by Joseph and another worker, that “most individual animals had a source of food and water, although the water was by no means clear and was covered in algae.”
NF noted that food for the raccoons in particular “was severely inadequate and the animal was exhibiting clear signs of distress.” Also, “The hygienic state of the animal enclosures was questionable, with the enclosure of P. lotor [racoons – Ed.] being in a particularly deplorable state. It was also observed that C. pygerthrus [green vervet monkey – Ed.] was exhibiting highly agitated behaviour.”
NF did not see the donkeys, which had been tied to a tree farther away, just outside the barriers and behind trees. This newspaper also did not notice them until one was heard braying loudly. On this newspaper’s second visit, they were not seen in the same area, but Joseph told this newspaper later on Friday night that they were indeed still on the property.
NF advised governmental authorities through its report, “The owners of the facility should be contacted with regard to future plans for the facility and the animals housed therein. Based on the state that the animals were observed in, the Nature Foundation recommends that the animals are evaluated by a recognised doctor of veterinary medicine in order to gauge their health.
“The animals should be brought over to a recognised facility for housing with adequate care provided for them until a solution pertaining to their housing can be found, such as at the St. Maarten Zoo if that facility is able to house them. For animals with a high probability for invasiveness and which may pose a threat to the population and indigenous flora and fauna euthanasia might have to be considered.”
When asked about the murky and depleted water pools at the park, Joseph said the water pools were being replenished about every other day. These are for the boa constrictor and the waterbirds. However, when hired, he was not told to take care of the pond at the centre of the park, which is dried up and murky, and may or may not have had fish in it. According to a former park visitor, it did.
He added that the main water valves had been turned off because of the use of heavy equipment at the site – structures are being taken down – and because the site was not being attended regularly. He said the animals would be relocated “very soon.”
Much different?
This newspaper also noted in its previous article that while other animals would not seem neglected at face-value, the raccoons did. A second visitor to whom this newspaper spoke said she had been surprised during a visit in early April to see the bad condition of the raccoons in particular, describing them as “full of mange, … bald and sick in a corner.”
She recalled the boa constrictor not having any water at all, and thinking that the water pool for the waterbirds was too low. She also described the monkey and donkeys as looking “depressed” and remembered having to search for the iguanas.
Negative sentiments towards the park are shared by animal-lover and former tour guide Monika Dobo, who, like many other tour guides, used to take tourists to the spot where iguanas gathered in abundance. Years ago there was only a caretaker shed and a natural pond that used to be bigger, always looked healthy and had mangroves, she described. There were also a lot of natural shade and places for water to collect.
It was a tourist favourite, where they could go and feed the iguanas bananas. Then came the development, and she said she had been shocked at the result just two to three weeks later when a wall and other structures were put up, and no one could get in anymore. Trees and mangroves (essential for cleaning water) were removed and the natural flow of water was disturbed.
With the price tag that came along with visiting the park, her guests could not afford to go, especially with children, and visitation declined. This also meant that the tourists were not feeding the iguanas anymore.
“Shame on them, it was just another cash machine and the environment and iguanas suffered.”
Iguanas clubbed
The developments seem to form just one more factor in what is leading Oyster Bay’s iguanas to flock to the Dawn Beach area, along with less water in the area and the ongoing drought.
Dobo said she had noticed iguanas making their way to Dawn Beach for years, but over the last months it had become much worse, with a “crazy build-up of iguanas that are hungry. … With the drought, there’s nothing growing.”
Dobo was especially angry when she encountered two sets of two tourists, both on Friday, who were distraught and had been crying. The tourists told her they saw hotel gardening and security staff clubbing iguanas to death. They were horrified at seeing it and reportedly were told later that staff had been instructed by management to get rid of them.
Staff at the hotels are “decent people” and she did not want to cause trouble by speaking, she said, “but if no one makes noise, the situation cannot be fixed.
“Even if the hotels do need to, there are ways of killing … besides beating on the head with gardening tools.” She also pointed out that many iguanas ended up as road-kill in the area.
The whole situation contributes to “a sense of lawlessness,” which she said she had been feeling over the past five years especially. She called it a chain reaction of bad things, and said many tourists loved these animals.
