unmanaged wild population were surviving to breeding age, meaning the population was functionally extinct, with only five animals remaining in the wild. Recovery efforts In 1990, the American Zoo and Aquarium Association designated the genus Cyclura as their highest priority for conservation. Their first project was an in situ captive breeding program for the blue iguana. One of the early difficulties encountered was that the captive stock of the early 1990s was found not to be pure. It was discovered through DNA analysis that the captive population contained a number of animals that were hybrids with C. nubila caymanensis. These hybrids were sterilized by means of hemipenectomies so that the program contain only pure-breeds. This program was created to determine the exact genealogies of the limited gene pool of the remaining animals and DNA analysis revealed that the entire North American captive population was descended from a single pair of animals. As a hedge against disaster striking the blue iguana population on Grand Cayman, in 2004 an ex situ captive population was established in 25 zoos in the USA. A minimum of 20 founder lines represented by at least 225 individuals is being maintained by captive breeding and recorded in a studbook for the species by Tandora Grant of the San Diego Zoo's Center for Conservation and Research for Endangered Species. By 2002 the Indianapolis Zoo had success with breeding the blue iguana in captivity twice since the year 2000. In October 2006, hatchlings were released into the wild for the first time to boost the species and help bring them back from the brink of extinction. Each released blue iguana wears a string of colored beads through its nuchal crest for visual identification at a distance, backed up by an implanted microchip and a high-resolution photograph of its head scales. Head scale patterns are as unique among blue iguanas as fingerprints are among humans. The blue iguana is established in captivity, both in public and private collections. There are very few pure-bred animals in private collections, animals in captive breeding programs are often hybrids with the Lesser Caymans Iguana (C. nubila caymanensis) and occasional hybrids with the Cuban Iguana (C. nubila nubila). Breeding in the pet trade minimizes the demand for wild-caught specimens. Blue Iguana Recovery Programme The Blue Iguana Recovery Programme grew from a small project started in 1990 within the National Trust for the Cayman Islands. It