Agama International Herpetocultural Institute
Agama International Herpetocultural Institute is a lizard farm in Montevallo. Founded by Bert Langerwerf in 1988, Agama is now owned by Stephen and Lauren Brooks.
Langerwerf, a native of The Netherlands, bred reptiles for many decades. His homeland was not the ideal environment, so in 1985 he and his family moved to the Canary Islands to found Reptilandia, a lizard-themed tourist attraction. After 2 years, The Langerwerfs decided to find a place to concentrate on breeding, and sold Reptilandia, which is still in operation. After looking in New Zealand, they decided on Montevallo and founded Agama, which is the scientific name for the water dragon, one of the species bred at the farm.
On August 11, 2008, Langerwerf passed away, and his wife and children kept the farm operational but put it on the market. In 2010, after seeing that the farm was for sale while looking online to purchase a lizard, the Brooks purchased the farm. Stephen, with a degree in zoo animal technology, and Lauren, a licensed wildlife rehabilitator, were married in New York on June 27 and moved to Montevallo, assuming ownership a month later.
Agama currently breeds the Australian water dragon, the Chinese crocodile lizard, the monkey-tailed skink, the African crag lizard, Yellow Acki (spiny tailed monitor), and the Gran Canaria giant lizard. Agama is the largest breeder of monkey-tailed skinks in the world, and is the only facility on record to have skinks birth triplets.
References
- Kennedy, Veronica (September 7, 2010) "New Yorker looks to buy a lizard, gets whole farm in Montevallo." Birmingham News
External links
- Agama International website