The Banded Fijin iguana ( Brachylophus fasciatus ) has always been a rare sight in captivity but during the last years numbers are raising and more collections are keeping and breeding this species. The same genus however contains another species, the Fijian crested iguana ( Brachylophus vitiensis ). Discovered 1979 and scientificly discribed 1981 it's found only on a few Fijian islands and very rare. Shortly after it's discovery the Orchid Island Cultural Center on Fiji succesfully bred the species and Feb. 1984 a captive bred male and two captive bred females were donated to Taronga Zoo. August 1985 the first young hatched at Taronga but 1986 only infertile eggs were produced. 1987 proofed to be a better year and 8 young were hatched and raised. I would be intrested to know what happened after 1987 with the group at Taronga, do they still have it, what happened with the young ( did they kept them themselfs, were they returned to Fiji or did other collections got them ? ) and any further information about these animals would be very welcome !
a quick search with google gives you this: Fijian Crested Iguana | Taronga Conservation Society Australia so still at taronga and also at Crested iguana - Brachylophus vitiensis - Australia Reptile Park Australia reptile park and at Australia Zoo - Our Animals - Reptiles - Lizards - Fijian Crested Iguana australia zoo
when I was in Fiji in 2007 the Kula Eco-Park was breeding crested iguanas for Australian zoos: http://www.zoochat.com/103/kula-eco-park-fiji-8687/
There are eight Australian zoos holding Fijian Crested Iguanas (Adelaide Zoo, Australia Zoo, Cairns Tropical Zoo, Crocodylus Park, Melbourne Zoo, National Zoo, Perth Zoo, Taronga Zoo) according to the ZAA census, with a total population of 40 (20.13.7). It doesn't say the Australian Reptile Park holds this species, although their website certainly suggests they do. In 2009 there were nine holders (also Mogo Zoo), and the population was at 43 (24.17.2). Kula Eco Park in Fiji holds 41 (17.15.9).
Warsaw Zoo (Poland) has from 2010 1.1 Brachylophus bulabula http://www.zoochat.com/273/fijian-banded-iguana-brachylophus-bulabula-308393/
Okay. Didn't realise that it was a split population rather then a newly discovered species. Wroclow photo looks pretty similar to standard Banded species.
the first press releases in 2008 made it sound like it was a previously-unknown species just from Ovalau, but it occurs on several islands and the reason it was unknown was simply because it is similar to the regular banded iguana. It was only discovered when they were sampling the DNA.
