Lemm, who has studied the Cuban iguana at Guantanamo Bay, says that the research done on the base has significant implications for stabilizing reptile populations in the wild throughout the Caribbean. "We learned from the Cuban iguana that head-starting [taking hatchlings, raising them in captivity, then releasing them later when they were less prone to predation by feral cats and other predators] is an effective tool for boosting iguana numbers in the wild. We also learned about their hormones, behavior, social structure, and general overall biology and ecology. Later, we learned about their population numbers [and] preferred habitats. These methodologies are being used all over the Caribbean with excellent results," he says.

Tolson of the Toledo Zoo estimates that 5 to 8 percent of the Cuban iguana population lives on the base, and notes that base regulations protect the iguana, making it an important habitat for the reptile. No such protections exist in the rest of Cuba.