San Francisco Chronicle; Saturday, February 8, 1997

Iguana Ban

Nicaraguan authorities have banned the eating of the threatened green iguana, the main ingredient in a favorite Holy Week dish. Each year just before Lent, the reptiles are hunted in the wild and killed, to be cooked with vegetables and ground corn to make a dish called Indo Viejo ("Old Indian"). The ban is intended to prevent the slaughter of the iguana at the height of its reproductive cycle. Those caught eating them face a fine of $5.50 per iguana.