Saint Lucia whiptail  (Cnemidophorus vanzoi)

Classified as Vulnerable (VU) on the IUCN Red List (1).

The male Saint Lucia whiptail is a visually striking lizard with a vivid blue-green tail, speckled with turquoise, and a bright yellow underside. The head and body are black, fading to grey on the flanks with white spots that run along the sides to the head (3). Coincidentally, the yellow, blue and black colouration of the male Saint Lucia whiptail matches the colours of the national flag of Saint Lucia (4), its native country (1). The female Saint Lucia whiptail has a less conspicuous appearance and is a coppery brown with cream-coloured stripes on the body and a whitish belly (3). Juveniles of both sexes have the appearance of an adult female, and some males may retain this colouration when they reach sexual maturity (2). 

The Saint Lucia whiptail is native to Maria Major and Maria Minor, two small islands situated off the coast of Saint Lucia in the Caribbean. It can also be found on Praslin Island where it was introduced in 1995 (5), and Rat Island where it was introduced in 2008 (10).

This lizard prefers to live in areas of dense leaf litter cover. The adults tend to occupy areas of open understory, while the juveniles prefer to stay in long grasses and dense thickets in order to gain protection from potential predators (2).

The Saint Lucia whiptail is a ground-dwelling lizard that is active during the daytime, when it forages in the leaf litter and digs through soil to find prey. Its diet consists primarily of invertebrates (such as insects and scorpions), but also carrion and fruit (5) (10) (11).

If this species loses its tail, it is capable of re-growing it, although this process is rather costly in terms of energy. Tail loss seems to occur quite frequently in Saint Lucia whiptails, which is thought to result from competition with other Saint Lucia whiptails. A male may, for example, incur injury to its tail when competing for, or guarding, a female (6). 

The Saint Lucia whiptail is vulnerable to threats including habitat loss, and catastrophic events like fires or hurricanes. The most severe threat, however, is probably from invasive mammalian predators, notably the black rat (7) and the small Asian mongoose (the latter most likely the reason it is now only found on mongoose-free offshore islands). In 2006 it was estimated that approximately 2,300 individuals were left in the wild (7), and due to its very restricted range, this species is now considered to be at risk of extinction in the wild (1).

In 1995, 42 Saint Lucia whiptails were relocated from Maria Major onto nearby Praslin Island in an attempt to create another stable and secure population. Praslin Island was chosen because it was ecologically suitable, uninhabited and smaller than Maria Major. As it was smaller than Maria Major it allowed exotic mammals, for example the predatory black rat, to be more easily eradicated (8) (12). Follow-up studies have suggested that the translocated population has successfully colonized Praslin Island (6) (7) (13). In 2008, another population was founded on Rat Island (9).

View information on this species at the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre.

For further information on wildlife conservation in the Caribbean see:

• The Nature Conservancy:
  http://www.nature.org/wherewework/caribbean
• Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust:
  http://www.durrell.org/Conservation/Where-we-work/Caribbean-Islands