Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Dominican Republic, finally after 3 shut-outs by hurricanes. I will be catching cornutas and ricords with a group from the Indy Zoo. We are not bringing anything back. This has been on the top of my list for awhile. Leave in a week roughly...

Hey Joel,
Can you tell us a little about the purpose ? Will you actually get to take the blood samples ? Have you heard anything about the results of the the blood samples that were already taken ? I would think that samples taken from iguanas at Descubierto and Cabrita(near the area the boat berths),might have skewed results because these iguanas get alot of hand-outs? In non protected areas the iguanas are food, and very wary and hard to get near. I guess you accustomed to that after your Andros and Cayman experiences. Should be an interesting trip, wish I could go. Hope to see lots of pictures and maybe an article for the International Reptile Conservation Federation magazine !

hi John
funny you say "us" is there anybody here? Anyway, to be honest, I am not sure the reason. I think its to establish a genetic baseline for a future head start program. I do think we are getting blood and there is talk of beading. I have wanted to go for so long it didnt matter what we are doing when I was contacted. I will find out and certainly post when I get back. I dont know anything about any previous samples. I will ask about them though. I have plenty or RAM and John has already talked about an article and a list of photos he is looking for.

jf

Joel, "us" is for all of the silent readers and looky loo's that never post. I believe the toledo Zoo had some blood samples for cornuta and ricordi to test and establish a baseline, but I never heard any sort of conclusive informantion. Perhaps Jan Ramer's of the Indy Zoo can shed some light on that ? Will she be leading your group during the trip ?

yup, workin' for her

So I learned today that any head starting is a ways off. This trip is to help train domincans in field technique and to get lab work on ricords and cornuta. I was told that there is little information
on these lizards so all the fundamentals need to be gathered. I didnt realize how little is known. I will get in early enough to hit Zoodom before we leave for the field.

Zoodom is a worthwhile stop. Hopefully the ricords are out for photo ops. We were told we were lucky to see them. On 11/04 they had 2 adults, 3 subs and about 10 hatchlings. All were of dark coloration which I believe means that they came from the west area. The ricords on the isla are much lighter in coloration.
There were 2 public rhino displays and 4 groups in the side area. For tame rhinos to handle, Manti park is where the below picture was taken. It is near punta cana which is on the East side of the island -- probably too far out of the way for your current trip. Enjoy.

How the hell are you guys going to catch one of the truly wild adults, I'm sure the locals just shoot them, but as John and I experienced, that would even be a task. I would hate to think that they will be dug up, the young ones are easy to catch though, I guess they still represent the big ones. We never clearly saw a big animal away from the lake, you would hear them running and it sounded like a horse, sometimes you would see a red streak go by, or just see them duck into their burrow. I would love to see some photos of some adults that are not from the Zoo or around the lake. Have fun out there, they have some good Rum in town. Oh ya, I just came back from the worst herp trip in history, I went to Thailand and saw a total of four reptiles, one skink and three geckos, I was ready for some snakes and monitors, it was nice though.
P.S. If you guys need any more help down there keep me in mind. KB