Green Iguana
You may notice that this green iguana is not in fact green! She came to The Living Rainforest after being a pet for a number of years. It is common in the pet trade to selectively breed individuals with more desirable traits, and artificially create different colour morphs. This can cause issues within the captive population of the species, as it often involves in-breeding.
The green iguana (Iguana iguana), also known as the American iguana or the common green iguana, is a large, arboreal, mostly herbivorous species of lizard of the genus Iguana. Usually, this animal is simply called the iguana. The green iguana ranges over a large geographic area; it is native from southern Brazil and Paraguay as far north as Mexico, and has been introduced from South America to Puerto Rico and is very common throughout the island, where it is colloquially known as gallina de palo ("bamboo chicken" or "chicken of the tree") and considered an invasive species; in the United States, feral populations also exist in South Florida (including the Florida Keys), Hawaii, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. Green iguanas have also successfully colonised the island of Anguilla, arriving on the island in 1995 after rafting across the Caribbean from Guadeloupe, where they were introduced.
A herbivore, it has adapted significantly with regard to locomotion and osmoregulation (the maintenance of constant osmotic pressure in the fluids of an organism by the control of water and salt concentrations) as a result of its diet. It grows to 1.5 m in length from head to tail, although a few specimens have grown more than 2 m with bodyweights upward of 9.1 kg.
This animal is a resident of The Living Rainforest which is an indoor greenhouse tropical rainforest that is located in Hampstead Norreys in Berkshire, England. It is an ecological centre, educational centre and visitor attraction consisting of three glasshouses, operated and run by the Trust for Sustainable Living. The glasshouses are named Amazonica, Lowlands and Small Islands respectively.
The Living Rainforest has been accredited by the Council for Learning Outside of the Classroom and awarded the LOtC Quality Badge. Each year around 25,000 children visit the Living Rainforest as part of their school's curriculum. It is open 7-days a week from 09:30 to 16:00.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_iguana
Green Iguana
You may notice that this green iguana is not in fact green! She came to The Living Rainforest after being a pet for a number of years. It is common in the pet trade to selectively breed individuals with more desirable traits, and artificially create different colour morphs. This can cause issues within the captive population of the species, as it often involves in-breeding.
The green iguana (Iguana iguana), also known as the American iguana or the common green iguana, is a large, arboreal, mostly herbivorous species of lizard of the genus Iguana. Usually, this animal is simply called the iguana. The green iguana ranges over a large geographic area; it is native from southern Brazil and Paraguay as far north as Mexico, and has been introduced from South America to Puerto Rico and is very common throughout the island, where it is colloquially known as gallina de palo ("bamboo chicken" or "chicken of the tree") and considered an invasive species; in the United States, feral populations also exist in South Florida (including the Florida Keys), Hawaii, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. Green iguanas have also successfully colonised the island of Anguilla, arriving on the island in 1995 after rafting across the Caribbean from Guadeloupe, where they were introduced.
A herbivore, it has adapted significantly with regard to locomotion and osmoregulation (the maintenance of constant osmotic pressure in the fluids of an organism by the control of water and salt concentrations) as a result of its diet. It grows to 1.5 m in length from head to tail, although a few specimens have grown more than 2 m with bodyweights upward of 9.1 kg.
This animal is a resident of The Living Rainforest which is an indoor greenhouse tropical rainforest that is located in Hampstead Norreys in Berkshire, England. It is an ecological centre, educational centre and visitor attraction consisting of three glasshouses, operated and run by the Trust for Sustainable Living. The glasshouses are named Amazonica, Lowlands and Small Islands respectively.
The Living Rainforest has been accredited by the Council for Learning Outside of the Classroom and awarded the LOtC Quality Badge. Each year around 25,000 children visit the Living Rainforest as part of their school's curriculum. It is open 7-days a week from 09:30 to 16:00.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_iguana