Curacao’s Fauna, Fish & Fowl
Watamula Cactus Scrublands is a haven for over two hundred bird species and other wildlife.
The Iguanas is a perfect Villa animal: loves sun and hardly moves. It can live 15 or more years in the wild and can grow as long as six feet, nose to tail tip. Iguanas need UV light to make vitamin D in their skin, which then enables them to absorb calcium from their food. Be careful of their tail - it will lash it out to protect itself. Lose it and it will simply grow back …
The Whiptail Lizard is native to Curaçao: thin brown ones (lagadishi) are the females and young, the larger blue green ones (blò-blò) are male. They reproduce by “parthenogenesis” meaning no sex life. Their eggs undergo a chromosome doubling, developing into lizards without being fertilized. However, there is some love: ovulation is enhanced by female-female courtship.
The Wara Wara is a solitary scavengers that hunt for their food on the ground. Found on other islands, it is only called Wara Wara in Curacao, Aruba and Bonaire.
Trupial will be at your table. Sometimes referred to as a dog trupial (trupial kachó) as its call is similar to the bark of a dog. Look out for its nests which look like hanging grass bags.
The Blenchi (Chlorostilbon mellisugus, blue-tailed emerald hummingbird) is a frequent visitor to the villa. This 8 cm (3 inches) long speedster is a beautiful and important pollinator on the peninsular.
Lionfish are native to the Indo-Pacific, but are now flourishing in the Caribbean, and in parts of the Gulf of Mexico. Eat them - they are delicious and you will be doing the reef a favor as they are invasive and bad for the local sea-life.
The Curacao’s white-tailed deer is drought-resistant and said to be a distant descendant of a deer line introduced to the island by Indian aboriginals over 4,000 years ago.
Cliff Villa Penninsula is a refuge for Milon di Seru which grows on the cliff using its long, extensive system of roots that it uses to collect water. Please, please do not try and pull them up as you will break their roots and they will die.
Divi Divi is the national tree of Curacao. It always points southwest pushed by the trade winds that blow across the island from the north-east.
Wabi is a type of Acacia that covers the Watamula preserve. Fire is its friend helping it germinate and grow.
For more information on Caribbean biodiversity contact The Caribbean Research and Management of Biodiversity (CARMABI) is a non-profit foundation on the island of Curaçao in the Dutch Caribbean. Carmabi was established in 1955 to oversee Marine and Terrestrial Research, Park Management, Nature and Environment Education and Consultancy.
