News of the sudden death of Breezy the blue iguana has left United Kingdom-based author David Roth and his family distraught.
Roth penned the children’s book that made Breezy the blue iguana a household name in the Cayman Islands.
“I thought the whole thing was like a bad dream. It’s just really, really sad news,” he said in a recent interview with Compass TV via Zoom, as he recounted learning of Breezy’s death.
The popular blue iguana, a well-known resident of the Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park and subject of a popular local children’s book, was found dead on 8 May in the park.
Roth said Breezy’s death was surreal for him.
“Of all the iguanas in the BIC [Blue Iguana Conservation Programme], it had to be Breezy. I wrote about it in the book. I’ve got a page in the book where a dog is on a leash and he’s lunging at the blue iguana,” Roth said.
“I put it on there for children to see that dogs are a threat to blue iguanas. So, it’s really sadly ironic that of all the iguanas — you wouldn’t want to see this happen to any of them — but it happens to be Breezy.”
Sad chapter
He said he was inspired to write a book on Breezy after his son’s work with the Blue Iguana Conservation Programme while the Roth family lived in Cayman years ago.
“They’re so unique. They’re only on Grand Cayman. They’re doing great work to protect them. But it’s also going to require the support of the people,” he said.
That book, he said, led him to write a series of children’s books on wildlife.
He said Breezy’s death is a “sad chapter” because now when kids come to the park looking for Breezy, they will find he is no longer there.
He said Breezy’s death is a reminder of the threats Cayman’s blue iguanas face and the need for responsible pet ownership.
“I’m just hoping that this event can bring some further awareness to people and those that are seeing them with their animals can either pull them onto the lead or do something to supervise them because it’s not something that people should be cavalier about and just say, ‘Well, it’s another creature. It doesn’t matter,’ because I think it’s really important,” he said.
Roth encouraged the community to support the blue iguana programme as the endangered species needs all the help it can get.
“I think you have an absolute gift in the blue iguana. The only place in the world they have it is Cayman and there’s a certain obligation to look after them because the world appreciates this. I tell people all the time, it’s just so special,” Roth said.
Support needed
He said the Blue Iguana Conservation Programme and National Trust are doing good work to support and encourage the growth of the species.
“I’m just hoping that it can continue in that way,” he said.
Breezy’s death was an isolated incident, National Trust Director Frank Roulstone said previously.
He said the park maintains a network of traps to capture stray dogs or cats entering the area.
The National Trust, he said, was working with the Department of Agriculture to identify and capture the dog or dogs involved in Breezy’s attack.
The department, he added, would take “appropriate actions” in dealing with the dogs.