Recent News
Cox Family Donate New Boat To Dr WingateWednesday, November 18, 2015
The Bermuda Zoological Society [BZS] said they would like to recognize and thank the Cox family, owners of the Waterfront Group, for their donation of a Boston Whaler with a fuel efficient Mercury engine to Dr. David Wingate so that he may continue to contribute to conservation in Bermuda.
Campaign To Make Island A “Living Classroom”
Friday, October 23, 2015
The Bermuda Zoological Society [BZS] has been focused on their ongoing campaign for education on Trunk Island in Harrington Sound, with the BZS aiming to provide classes that utilize the island as a “living classroom” to some 3,000 students.
Island turned into conservation classroom
Friday, October 23, 2015
Volunteers have given up nearly 2,000 hours of their time to help transform Trunk Island into a living classroom for schoolchildren.
WILD Tales Fall 2015
Thursday, October 01, 2015
Bermuda Zoological Society Fall edition of WILD Tales.
‘Jewel in crown’ of BZS education efforts
Wednesday, September 30, 2015
Trunk Island could become the centrepiece of environmental education programmes, according to the Bermuda Zoological Society.
About
GovernanceAbout Us
Newsletter
Latest News
Gift & Bookstore
Contact
General Inquiries
info@bzs.bm
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.