The Tribune

By SANCHESKA BROWN

Tribune Staff Reporter

sbrown@tribunemedia.net

DEPUTY Prime Minister Phillip “Brave” Davis said yesterday he is concerned that the two women who smuggled iguana’s out of the country last week, were assisted by Bahamians.

In a press statement, Mr Davis said the news had “troubled him in many ways”.

“Over the past few days an intense discussion has been going on by telephone, emails and in the local and international press with regard to a report out of the United Kingdom of the discovery of thirteen rock iguanas in the luggage of two women arriving from Nassau. This story is troubling in many ways. These animals are an endangered species, living in isolation from regular human contact. They run away from intruders. To secure 13 animals and to remove them from San Salvador in secrecy would seem to be a daunting task,” he said.

“Further, the atrocious act was compounded by taking endangered animals out of the country into a foreign country  by two women, with the explanation, apparently, being offered by them to British officials that they were in the process of delivering them to a third party in Germany. I am concerned that they probably had assistance from someone or others resident on San Salvador as well as in Nassau before boarding the flight to London.”

The Deputy Prime Minster said he will ensure that this “criminal act” be fully investigation and all parties are dealt within the law by all relevant jurisdictions.

He said: “We must all play our part in protecting our natural heritage. I have been in contact with our security organizations and other agencies of the Government, to ensure that The Bahamas is intimately involved in finding a resolution to this theft and, hopefully, to arrange the safe return of the still living iguanas to their habitat in San Salvador.

“I call on citizens everywhere to be mindful that there will always be those who try to use our islands for trafficking of drugs, people and our natural treasures to other jurisdictions. We must all be vigilant and play our individual parts to the fullest to protect our Bahamas from criminals of all sorts.”

Eric Carey, Executive Director of Bahamas National Trust, told The Tribune he hopes the incident, which has attracted international attention, will be the push the government needs to establish the San Salvador National Park, which he hopes will be the first step in preserving such critically vulnerable species as the San Salvador Rock Iguana.

The two women, who had the animals stuffed into socks and concealed in a suitcase, were stopped at London Heathrow’s Terminal 5 by UK customs officers.

Officials believe the Romanian women were attempting to smuggle the iguanas into Dusseldorf, Germany.

Tragically, only 12 of the iguanas are still alive as one died during the journey. The two women, ages 24 and 26, were arrested on suspicion of importation offences.

With only a few hundred of these creatures native to The Bahamas in existence, the San Salvador Rock Iguana is considered extremely rare and is near extinction. All Rock iguanas in The Bahamas are protected by the Wild Animals Protection Act.