Blue Iguanas MURDERED @ the QE II Botanical Park

I am so angry right now I can't even see straight. WTF is WRONG with people?!?!?!?!?!?!?

These Iguanas are critically endangered, and some very dedicated people have worked extremely hard for years to bolster the remnant populations of these special lizards.

On Saturday evening, unknown persons broke into the park & killed 6 of the adult Grand Cayman Blue Iguanas that were a big part of the breeding/conservation program at the park.

More details: http://ircf.org/news_bluesmurdered.php

If anyone can help via donations, kind words, e-mails, just let these folks know you're pulling for them, every little bit helps. This is a VERY dark time for the staff at the park who have worked so hard to bring this species back from the brink of extinction!

:mad:

I read about that somewhere else...

How can anyone do that? Really?

Tragic to say the least.

How horrific for these animals and the staff! :mad:

Thank you for making us aware of this, Kara!

I cant even think of any words to say:mad: How can people do this! They make me sick!

Seriously, wtf is wrong with people??? I dont understand what would possess someone to do that to an animal. Its disgusting.

omg how awful!!!

what a terribly sad way for them to go also :tears:

its devastating to think what our world has come to... honestly

Wow this is absolutely sickening.

There are no words for this kind of premeditated hatred. This is the kind of thing that makes me want to bring back the 'eye for an eye' school of justice.

I belong to IRCF and have long kept up with their journals, for those of you not yet acquainted with them, now might be a good time to step forward and show your support within the conservation community. They are a great foundation and have worked tirelessly to promote education and conservation. Please consider at least checking into who they are and what they do.

RIP Iggies.


~Kat

Other resources on the story....

http://caymaniac.ky/2008/05/05/six-b...-botanic-park/

http://www.blueiguana.ky/news.htm





~Kat

That's infuriating. I hope they catch the SOB (s) that did this... and that he (they) have an extremely long stay where they will be going. My heart goes out to those beautiful animals, and their keepers that must be absolutely heart broken.

I hope those people are caught and proscuted to the fullest extent of the law, and then some. :mad: That is beyond words.... :rage:

Those poor animals and the keepers as well. That is a loss that can never be replaced. :tears:

I've never wished so hard for a time machine and a shotgun.

I echo the sorrow and pain of the community, and I've sent an email to the society expressing my thoughts.

This is terrible, hard to believe anyone could do such a thing. :mad: :rage:

a shotgun? thats getting off easy. In the words of Marcellus Wallace in Pulp Fiction,

"What now? Let me tell you what now...................go to work on the homes here with a pair of pliers and a blow torch."

I couldn't use the whole quote of course. If you've seen the movie, you know why!

There are no words for that kind of disgusting act. The person(s) responsible should be drawn and quartered. That's about as horrid as that kid at the reptile petting zoo!!

And people wonder why I want to open a refuge/education center for exotics.... :mad::mad::mad:

WTF is wrong with people! I hope they get to the bottom of this and catch the monsters responsible for this ridiculous act.

Aww thats just mean why would anyone do such a thing poor things I hope they didnt suffer. Although I am sure the poor things did. :(

That is sickening! I can't believe some people! Why would anyone in their right mind conceivably do this... Maybe they weren't in their right mind...

Does anyone know where the park is located, just out of curiosity?

Crazy B******s!
:mad::mad::mad:

I wonder if it's the same people that killed all the seals over the weekend.

That is horrible and I absolutely HATE people that would deliberately hurt an animal. SEEING RED!

Words can't even begin to describe how sad that makes me. Defenseless animals, why? It makes no sense. Sick twisted SOB's. Eye for an eye. Wouldn't that be nice?

How incredibly, incredibly sad. I cannot imagine what the staff have gone through and will go through trying to deal with the absolutely senseless loss. :(

It's stories like this that really break my heart. Unfortunately, they'll probably get away with it. This just leaves me speechless. :(:mad:

Thats terrible. And I don't feel bad at all in saying that hopefully something traumatic happens in the people who killed these animals lives, at least then maybe they can feel the same pain that the people who cared for those animals feel. I don't have any sympathy for people who can just do something like that, imagine what else they are capable of.

I just made a donation to them, it kills me that I can't do more to help right now.

Disgusting, thats all that is needed to say.

"People who murder and maim, will see Hell soon Again"

Folks, please - and I am asking YOU, as a personal favor, PLEASE - take a moment to drop a line to the people working so diligently on this project:

Leave a comment on Myspace

E-mail researcher Fred Burton & send him your condolences/kind words.

Donate to the IRCF. Whatever amount you can possibly spare (they do accept Paypal!) will help to fund their efforts to rebuild this critically endangered population of blue iguanas. Keep in mind that they are in a remote, relatively undeveloped area. Every little bit counts!

It doesn't matter how you contribute, whether verbally, financially or both...please get in touch with these people and let them know that the herp community is pulling for them!!!! Think of how much you'd be hurting if you lost the animals in your collection...put yourself in the place of these researchers & fellow herpers who have had a very big piece of their life's work literally stomped to death by absolute scum.

Please take a moment to let them know that they're not all alone in putting the pieces back together, in the face of this horrible, disgusting tragedy.

Please. :(

I'm going to do what I can to help, Kara. I know how something like this feels. This absolutely disgusts me to no end to know people will/do actually do things like this. Endangered or not; it's just plain wrong!

psycho!!!! i hope karma gets those ppl.. man... i would love to beat them up with a padlock. or atleast cut off a hand or feet using a blunt blade...or cattle brand their faces..yeah. that would be fun. well i hope they get caught real soon.

my condolences on the iguanas.

Calm down with the threatining of the people.
You're becoming the same as them.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by _Venom_

Calm down with the threatining of the people.
You're becoming the same as them.

---

I'm sure no one here is as heartless as those people are, and no one here would go out and deliberately kill and dismember the people who had done so to the iguanas.
Hoping someone gets what they deserve and outright killing innocent/defenseless animals are completely different things, I wouldn't go comparing anyone here to the people who killed those animals..

Quote:

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Originally Posted by _Venom_

Calm down with the threatining of the people.
You're becoming the same as them.

---

Quote:

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Originally Posted by edie

No one is threatening anyone, and I'm sure no one here is as heartless as those people are.
Hoping someone gets what they deserve and outright killing innocent/defenseless animals are completely different things, I wouldn't go comparing anyone here to the people who killed those animals.

---

Venom may not have used quite the right word when he/she said "threatening", but I absolutely agree with his sentiment that by saying some of the things that have been said in this thread, people are starting to lower themselves to the level of those who made the attack. I'll agree with your point that no one here has gone to the level of killing anything. However, you would like to pretend people are just "hoping someone gets what they deserve"; there is a HUGE difference between that and saying that beating them up with a padlock, etc would be fun.

In your own earlier post, you hope something traumatic happens so that the people who did this will feel the same pain the iguana keepers are feeling. Since the iguana keepers are feeling no physical pain, just grief at the loss of defenseless innocents, it sounds as if you want some defenseless innocents that the iguana murders care about to be killed. I'd say that's getting close enough to make a comparison. Things do not have to be identical to be compared.

I think the 4 quotes below make it clear that at least some posters in this thread were starting down an ugly path, which detracts from what Kara, the OP, wanted. Namely an expression of support, whether it be just kind words, or donations, for the people who lost the iguanas. I think Venom's post was right on, in attempting to stop people from heading down that path.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by NightLad

I've never wished so hard for a time machine and a shotgun.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by jonf

a shotgun? thats getting off easy. In the words of Marcellus Wallace in Pulp Fiction,

"What now? Let me tell you what now...................go to work on the homes here with a pair of pliers and a blow torch."

---

Quote:

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Originally Posted by edie

Thats terrible. And I don't feel bad at all in saying that hopefully something traumatic happens in the people who killed these animals lives, at least then maybe they can feel the same pain that the people who cared for those animals feel. I don't have any sympathy for people who can just do something like that, imagine what else they are capable of.

---

Quote:

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Originally Posted by munding

psycho!!!! i hope karma gets those ppl.. man... i would love to beat them up with a padlock. or atleast cut off a hand or feet using a blunt blade...or cattle brand their faces..yeah. that would be fun. well i hope they get caught real soon.

---

I figured out that he didn't literally mean threating and I changed my post before you had posted your comment. I haven't had much sleep so it took me a while to realize that I sounded stupid.

I think that this is something that is upsetting to a lot of people in the herp. community. I don't think anyone who has said anything would literally go out and do it, but sometimes it is good to get your emotions out and say what you feel. I just wanted to say that saying something and actually doing something are completely different, and even if the people had posted their comments or not, they still would have thought it and I don't blame them, or myself for those thoughts. I know I wouldn't ever go out and do something to these people, and I also know I wouldn't ever go out and kill a group of animals. I just don't think its fair to compare statements to actions in this case.

Edit: I agree that my, and others statements, have taken away from the original meaning of this post though. I have already donated money to the IRFC yesterday and sent some e-mails to people involved to show my support.
I think this is a terrible thing that happened, and sometimes peoples emotions get the best of them. I think that when people get emotional their statements can be a little off the wall, but at least you know they are human!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by edie

I figured out that he didn't literally mean threating and I changed my post before you had posted your comment. I haven't had much sleep so it took me a while to realize that I sounded stupid.

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I see that now. I must have started my reply before you made the change.

You didn't sound stupid. Actually attacking someone's entire position by arguing one little detail about how they presented it is an effective tactic. Rather manipulative and unfair, but effective. So I'm glad to know you didn't mean it that way.

Absolutely horrible that something like this happened. :mad: I really hope the person/person's that did this are caught.

One body is still missing. Has it been considered that this senseless slaughter was an attempt to cover the thief of one of these beautiful animals?

Were people so overcome with anger and grief that this theory wasn't considered and evidence was accidentally destroyed (fingerprints, etc)?

My heart goes out to those gorgeous beauties. I thought how much like humans they looked in death.

I emailed them to send some kind words a long, and best wishes. I did get a reply back.

What really, really bothers me, not only that these poor animals were killed, but that in the email it said.

Interest in the program is now at an all time high, at too great a cost.


That is true, but so very sad.

People are so consumed by materialist things, war, economy, their lives, that they fail to stop and smell the roses.

It takes something like these animals getting murdered for the majority of society to even realize they existed. I don't want my children, and grandchildren to grow up and have to see all these endangered animals in museums when they are extinct.

I wish them the best in this whole ordeal, and rebuilding the population.

That is so sad, & terrible. I know a friend who personally has been over there to help those Blue Iguana's. She is terribly upset right now.

Your right WTH? is wrong with ppl doing that. grrrrrr:mad:

I wrote them an email and their response had this picture attached. I thought I would post it up here to get a visual of these gorgeous animals that have been so sadly taken from us. My thoughts are with the team that looked after them...

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f1...rialphotos.jpg

Thanks for posting the picture, its sad that someone could do something to any animal, especially ones that beautiful and obviously cared for by the people who took care of them.

I want to cry my eyes out.

Another reason why my best friends are animals with 4 legs and with 0 legs.

and I repeat..........

".......a pair of pliers and a blowtorch". A shotgun would be getting off easy.

wow that is so sad, I can't believe that anyone would do something like that. How people do things like this without any remorse is beyond me.

Definitely a sad story to hear! Those iggys are amazing, it gives me great shame for humanity when things like this occur.

Insanity. Who would do something like that? Really? A disgruntled former employee? A person who hated one of the people that were working on it? How SAD.. :(