 Blue iguanas used to regularly be sold to tourists as pets , as their rarity made them appealing to exotic @-@ animal collectors , despite this being illegal under the CITES treaty . In 1999 a World Wildlife Fund international conservation officer , Stuart Chapman , said , " The British government has turned a blind eye for over 20 years to these overseas territories which are home to many rare and endangered species . Many of these face extinction if Britain fails to honour its treaty obligations . The British Caribbean islands are extremely rich in biodiversity with many critically endangered species that are unique to the islands — yet there is virtually zero enforcement or implementation of CITES " . 
