Green Cay National Wildlife Refuge, just north of Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands

Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands

Saint Croix is an island in the Caribbean Sea, and a county and constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands , an unincorporated territory of the United States. Formerly the Danish West Indies, they were sold to the United States by Denmark in the Treaty of the Danish West Indies of...

, preserves habitat for the largest remaining population of endangered Saint Croix ground lizard

Saint Croix ground lizard

The Saint Croix ground lizard is a member of the Teiidae family of lizards.-Description:Growing to a size of between 35 and 77mm , it is noticeable for the pattern of light brown, dark brown and white longitudinal stripes down its back...

 (Ameiva polops). Much smaller populations of ground lizard live on nearby Protestant Cay (17°44′59"N 64°42′10"W) and on Ruth Island

Ruth Island

Ruth Island is an artificial island off the south coast of Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands near Port Alucroix. It was created in the mid 1960s from the dredging of Krauses Lagune and is about 40 acres ....

. Its extirpation from the mainland of St. Croix is generally attributed to the introduction of the small Indian mongoose (Herpestes auropunctatus). In 2008, the National Park Service reintroduce the lizard to Buck Island

Buck Island Reef National Monument

Buck Island Reef National Monument, or just Chicken Island is a small, pink, 5 foot island about 1.5 miles north of the northeast coast of Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. It was first established as a protected area by the U.S. Government in 1948, with the intention of preserving “one of the...

, translocating 57 individuals from Green Cay.

The 14-acre (0.06 km²) Green Cay is midway between the town of Christiansted

Christiansted, U.S. Virgin Islands

Christiansted is a town on Saint Croix, one of the main islands composing the United States Virgin Islands, an unincorporated territory of the United States. It is a former capital of the Danish West Indies and home to the Christiansted National Historic Site...

 and Buck Island Reef National Monument (which provides law enforcement under an interagency agreement).

Green Cay NWR is administered as part of the Caribbean Islands National Wildlife complex

Caribbean Islands National Wildlife complex

Caribbean Islands National Wildlife complex is an administrative unit of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service which oversees National Wildlife Refuges in Navassa Island, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.-Puerto Rico:...

.

There is a smaller "Green Cay" off the coast of St. Thomas

Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands

Saint Thomas is an island in the Caribbean Sea and with the islands of Saint John, Saint Croix, and Water Island a county and constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands , an unincorporated territory of the United States. Located on the island is the territorial capital and port of...

(18°18′37"N 64°54′28"W).

External links

• Green Cay National Wildlife Refuge homepage