Recent News
Bench challenge for would-be architectsWednesday, June 08, 2016
High school and university students have been encouraged to enter a Institute of Bermuda Architects’ (IBA) design-build competition.
Staff assist Trunk Island project
Thursday, May 19, 2016
Marsh and Guy Carpenter employees have helped out with the Trunk Island project as part of their annual community day.
Birthday surprise for Pebbles the seal
Friday, May 13, 2016
It’s not every animal that is treated to a birthday surprise.
Wednesday 11th May was Pebbles the seal's 23rd birthday!
Friday, May 13, 2016
To celebrate Aquarist Ryan Tacklin arranged for Pebbles to have a separate encounter with him, as the other three seals were kept occupied in the other pool.
BZS Lecture Series: “World Domination By Ants”
Sunday, May 01, 2016
The latest installment in the Bermuda Zoological Society lecture series will see a talk presented by visiting scientist Dr. Jim Wetterer, Associate Professor at Florida Atlantic University, on the topic of “World Domination by Ants.”
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Latest News
All the latest updates and news from the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum, and Zoo, one of Bermuda's leading visitor attractions!
Jonathan Bell
Published Nov 2, 2017 at 8:00 am (Updated Nov 2, 2017 at 6:05 am)
The brown anole lizard in Bermuda (Photograph by James Stroud)
Bermuda’s endangered skinks are soon to cross paths with a thriving invasive species that already outnumbers the entire native population.
James Stroud of Florida International University said the brown anole lizard had been recorded “living in some of the highest densities of any terrestrial vertebrate on Earth”.
Dr Stroud’s report was shared with The Royal Gazette in the wake of an article on the lizard’s spread after the reptiles were spotted around Aberfeldy nursery in Paget.
The brown anole lizard in Bermuda (Photograph by James Stroud)
Other clusters of the foreign lizard were found on the grounds of Belco and a lumber yard at Mill Creek, both in Pembroke.
The report, with Sean Giery from North Carolina State University and Mark Outerbridge from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, “conservatively” estimated there were 4,000 to 5,000 of the lizards on the island — dwarfing a total skink population of 3,500.
Researchers on Nonsuch Island: from left, Mark Outerbridge of the Department
of Environment and Natural Resources, Sean Giery from the University of Connecticut,
and James Stroud of Florida International University (Photograph supplied)
The two species overlap “substantially” — both lizards prefer to stay on the ground, and eat the same ground-dwelling insects and spiders.
The scientists estimated that contact between the species might occur in less than ten years.
Brown anole numbers appear to reflect “an initial stage of invasion, and prior to exponential growth” — meaning the lizards could become a familiar sight around the island.
The brown anole, which is originally from the Caribbean, has spread around the world — partly because the lizards are popular as pets.