[Fwd: [cerninfo] Iguanas and Goats on Isla Mona]

By FRANK GRIFFITHS

    ISLA MONA, Puerto Rico, June 9 (AP) -- Turning eyes and shotguns
toward
a rustling bush on this uninhabited Caribbean island, the hunters
eagerly
await the day's prey.
    In a flash, a 4-foot iguana emerges.
    "Darn iguanas!" growls the camouflaged Angel Luis Seda, lowering his

weapon in disappointment. "They sound like goats."
    Set in some of the Caribbean's roughest waters, Isla Mona offers
rugged
adventure for those looking to hunt, explore caves adorned with
petroglyphs, snorkel a pristine coral reef, spot rare boobies, hunt for
pirate treasure, or investigate a lighthouse designed by Eiffel.
    For four months of the year, the 7-by-4-mile island between Puerto
Rico
and the Dominican Republic attracts hundreds of hunters from the U.S.
Caribbean territory and mainland.
    They can kill up to five goats a day and any number of pigs, which
are
rarely sighted.
    In return, they help protect the island's threatened Rhinoceros
Iguana,
or cyclura cornuta stejnegeri.
    "It's a win-win situation," said Robert Matos, director of natural
reserves for Puerto Rico's Natural Resources Department.
    Biologists estimate the island is home to more than 2,000 iguanas,
threatened by pigs, goats and feral cats brought by farmers in the 18th
century. The pigs devour iguana eggs. The cats prey on young lizards.
And
the goats feast on plants the iguanas eat.
    In 1999, scientists began catching iguana hatchlings and raising
them
until they're capable of protecting themselves. About 40 adults have
since
been released, said biologist Alberto Alvarez, who directs the project.
    "This is hostile land," says Seda, one of 75 hunters who came toward
the
end of the hunting season in March. It begins in December with a month
devoted to hunting with bows and arrows.
    Dubbed the "Galapagos of the Caribbean" for its remoteness and
wildlife,
the island boasts red-footed boobies, more than 50 species of spiders,
endangered hawksbill turtles and falcons.
    Hunters come on a three-hour boat ride made nauseating by choppy
water
and strong currents, to experience a mixture of heaven and hell.
    Temperatures can soar to 110 degrees in winter, two deadly types of
scorpions are indigenous, and dense thorn bushes make Mona hard to
navigate.
    A teenage Boy Scout died of dehydration in 2001 after getting lost.
The
same year, a hunter died after his friend mistakenly shot him.
    Although Seda and companion Victor Padilla know the island well they

carry a Global Positioning System and, if separated, whistle out before
shooting.
    "It's better to scare the animal away than to get shot," says
Leoneides
Morina, 45, a shirtless hunter with hands bloody from skinning a goat.
    The island's wild beauty makes the challenges worthwhile.
    Bleached bluffs buttress coral reefs that are a paradise for divers
and
snorkelers.
    About 200 limestone caves await explorers, some with petroglyphs
from
Taino Indians who lived here before Ponce de Leon and his Spanish
conquistadors arrived.
    The caves, some large enough to hold a small cruise ship, once were
used
for mining guano. Carts and rail tracks still litter some of the larger
ones, remnants of concessions granted to companies from Spain, Germany
and
Puerto Rico in the late 19th century.
    Isla Mona translates to "monkey island" in English, but there never
were
any monkeys here. It was named for a Taino chief called Amona.
    Bands of pirates also stopped by, and legend has it that buried
treasures abound.
    The infamous Captain Kidd hid out here in 1699 while England sent
word
it wanted him executed. Kidd should have stayed. He left for New York,
where he was captured and shipped to England for hanging.
    On the east coast, a cast iron lighthouse in disrepair draws
visitorsbecause it was designed by the company of Alexandre Gustave
Eiffel, of
Eiffel Tower fame, according to Ovidio Davila of Puerto Rico's Culture
Institute.
    The island was last inhabited in the early 1940s when the Civilian
Conservation Corps sent hundreds of people to plant trees in a
post-Depression era program to create jobs.
    Illegal Dominican migrants trying to reach mainland Puerto Rico
sometimes stop here when they encounter rough seas or engine trouble. A
graveyard of a dozen or so mangled boats on the west end of the island
bears testimony to unsuccessful attempts.
    Today, Isla Mona is a remote outpost, visited by biologists, hunters
and
tourists who must get permits from the Department of Natural Resources.
The
only accommodation is a $4-a-night campsite with dinner, often a hearty
goat stew cooked with cilantro and served with rice and beans.
    Hunters ship the rest of their booty to the main island for sale.
    "You alleviate stress with nature," said Padilla, a 32-year-old auto

parts store manager. "This is the life."

------------------------------------------------------------
Robert S. Conrich Managing Director
St. Helena Transhipment Services Ltd.
Box 666
Anguilla bob@eastcaribbean.com
British West Indies Tel: 264 497 2505
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Received on Fri Jun 13 18:41:48 2003