Species Fact Profile: Haitian Giant Galliwasp (Caribicus warreni)

                                                             Haitian Giant Galliwasp

                                                       Caribicus (Celestus) warreni (Schwartz, 1970)

Range: Northern Hispaniola (Haiti and Dominican Republic), off-shore Ile de la Tortue.  Possibly already extirpated from the Dominican Republic

Habitat:  Lowland Broadleaf Forest (below 700 meters), Banana and Cacao Plantations.  Primarily found under leaf litter and forest debris

Diet: Arthropods (especially centipedes and millipedes), earthworms, small reptiles and mammals, hatchling birds

Social Grouping: Males are territorial, allow access to females

Reproduction: Breeding is seasonal, with peak births occurring between June and September (wet season).   Male will grasp the back of the female’s neck in his jaws as he mounts her.  Give birth to up to 40 (usually 20) live young per litter after a gestation of 180 days.  Uncertain as to whether they practice parthenogenesis  or sperm storage.  Sexually mature at 5-7 years old (as early as 3-4 years old under human care).  

Lifespan: 20-30 Years

      Conservation Status: IUCN Vulnerable 

• Body length up to 30 centimeters.  Superficially skink-like body with small limbs, stocky body, robust head, and streamlined appearance
• Sexes look alike.  Coloration is dull to chocolate brown with some dark bands, paler on the sides and orange on the ventral surface
• Males are larger than females, having wider heads and tails at time of sexual maturity.  Juvenile or immature males resemble adult females
• Seldom seen on the surface, spends most of its time under cover.  Believed to be nocturnal or crepuscular, but uncertain – very poorly studied in the wild
• Primary threat is loss of habitat, especially deforestation for agricultural land.  Remaining habitat is highly fragmented.  Currently found only on one small site in northern Haiti
• Sometimes recognized as having two subspecies, the nominate and C. w. anelpistus, though the later is sometimes elevated to full-species status
• Predated by introduced mammalian carnivores – dogs, cats, and especially mongooses.  Capable of shedding its tail when pursued by a predator
• Killed by local people under the mistaken belief that they are venomous.  Occurs in the illegal pet trade, has some significance in local voodoo religions
• Origin of the name "galliwasp" is unknown

Zookeeper's Journal: If you were to make a list of the endangered species of the world, I'm pretty sure that for every giant panda, there'd be a half dozen species like the Haitian giant galliwasp.  Both are endangered, the galliwasp actually more so than the panda in terms of its trajectory and stability.  Compared to the panda, the galliwasp's needs in a zoo setting are relatively simple, both in terms of expenditure, space, and staff resources.  The entire species could be maintained in a single zoo with the resources devoted to a single pair of pandas.  Unfortunately, the galliwasp is not especially glamorous. It's not an especially visually striking lizard, which doesn't matter too much, because it's not inclined to pose for visitors' cameras. It is very fossorial and hides quite a lot. Virtually no one has heard of it.  And yet, this represents the sort of species which I feel like zoos are best positioned to save from extinction.  Which isn't to say that there's no room for other species, like big mammals.  Those are the hook species which bring visitors in - and help us share the message and support the work of saving other species - including cryptic, brown, rather bitey little lizards than no one knows about.