Visit the top flight of our Tropical House to see our Fijian iguanas.
The Fijian iguana is endemic to Fiji. They were originally found throughout 14 Fijian islands, but, today are restricted to just three. They live amongst dry forests and in coastal areas and will spend the majority of their time in the trees, rarely coming down to the ground.
These lizards are primarily herbivorous and forage for leaves, flowers and fruit. On a rare occasion, they may also eat insects.
Interesting facts!
- The Iguanas change colour when threatened. Their normal colour is bright green when relaxed, dark green when they are getting upset and black indicates they feel extremely threatened.
- They lay about 4 eggs in shallow burrows between March and April. The eggs have a long incubation period of about 9 months and the female guards the eggs until they hatch.
Conservation
It’s estimated that the Fiji banded iguana population has decreased by 50 percent in the last 35 to 40 years, and these iguanas are now extinct on some of the islands.
They have experienced extensive habitat loss due to mining, forest burning, logging and agriculture. There has also been an introduction to increased predation from feral cats and goats.
