The hunt takes place in a nursery. Ten biodiversity protection officers in Guadeloupe walk the paths of the reserve by the light of their headlamps, searching the rows of palm trees and the flowering plants sometimes invaded by weeds. The evening’s objective: to flush out Anolis sagreian invasive species of lizard, harmful to endemic lizards (Anolis marmoratus).
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The operation, carried out in July, is the twelfth of its kind since the species, native to countries such as Cuba and the Bahamas, was detected on the archipelago less than a year ago. “This type of place, with imported plants, is a haven for these little creatures.”notes Julien Gérard, from the regional biodiversity agency of the Guadeloupe islands. He shows the underside of the throat of the anole he has just caught: “It is recognized by its red dewlap, present even in the smallest. The dewlap of our endemic anoles is yellow.”
After capture, the animals are killed, a quick technique using pliers operated while looking away, which few of them feel capable of carrying out. “Here, we are defenders of biodiversity, of the protection of animals and of life, so killing animals in the name of the protection of life is a bit of cognitive dissonance.”comments Fabian Rateau, responsible for the issue of invasive animal species at the French Office for Biodiversity (OFB).
That evening, the team will have captured a hundred specimens. That’s more than the previous times. No one dares to admit defeat by the species, but doubt reigns in the group, despite its policy of rapid intervention, with bare hands. “We say that the species has already spread a little everywhere: we estimate that it is three years ahead of us, agents regret. Especially because anoles lay their eggs in the soil, a safe and discreet way to spread wherever plants are imported.
Absence of predator
In Guadeloupe, the latest inventory provided by the International Union for Conservation of Nature dates from 2022: according to this count, out of forty-three species (all species combined) introduced to Guadeloupe over time, nineteen are considered invasive.
One imported species in a thousand becomes problematic, say specialists. But its capacity to cause harm is explained by the absence of predators, the changes it causes in the habitat of the animals present, sometimes their destruction, creating spaces that it occupies by proliferating, particularly on islands. “The island nature of our territories makes them incredible areas of biodiversity, ecological niches where the balance is very delicate”recalls Fabian Rateau.
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