Overview

• The casque-headed iguana at Telford’s Exotic Zoo in Shropshire produced eight hatchlings over a week in late August despite never being housed with a male.
• Zoo director Scott Adams called it “one of the rarest events in the animal kingdom” and said staff were stunned when fertile eggs were confirmed.
• All eight babies are female and described by keepers as near-identical to their mother, known in some reports as Carol.
• The hatchlings are in a climate- and humidity-controlled reptile nursery and are expected to go on public display in the coming weeks, with two slated for transfer to another zoo.
• Parthenogenesis has been documented in only a handful of reptile species and has also been reported in other animals, including a 2023 epaulette shark case at Brookfield Zoo.