Some good news from the IUCN Red List update

According to the latest IUCN Red List update "the Grand Cayman Blue Iguana (Cyclura lewisi) has taken a formal step back from extinction this year." The Grand Cayman Blue Iguana, endemic to the island of Grand Cayman and Cayman Islands, had only 25 to 50 individuals left in the wild back in 2002. With the help from the Blue Iguana Recovery Program, the Grand Cayman Blue Iguana has risen to about 750 individuals. This increase in individuals shifted the Iguana from critically endangered to endangered. The Blue Iguana Recovery Program involved habitat protection; captive breeding and release; research and monitoring; and education and outreach.

However according to Fred Burton, member of the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) Iguana Specialist Group and Programme Director of the Blue Iguana Recovery Programme. “Human impacts on Grand Cayman are now so extensive that there just isn’t scope for these iguanas to regain numbers in the tens of thousands. However, we are confident that we will achieve our long term goal of restoring at least 1,000 Grand Cayman Blue Iguanas to the wild.” Thanks to human effort, the Grand Cayman Blue Iguana avoided the various situation that affect small populations that we learned in class such as genetic drift. This good news will give others who are working to save other species hope that it can be done.
Source: Grand Cayman Blue Iguana takes step back from extinction