Population growth rate, estimated from a Leslie–Lefkovitch stage-class model, showed a positive annual growth rate of 4% over the study period. More than 5% of the female population were predicted to be reproductive by age 8 years the age-specific proportion of reproductive females steadily increased until age 18 when more than 95% of females were predicted to be reproductive. We estimated survival to be strongly age dependent with hatchlings having the lowest survival rates (16%) but increasing to nearly 90% at adulthood based on mark–recapture models. Over the study period, 7,427 hatchlings were marked and 380 individuals were recaptured for as many as 25 years.
Accurate demographic information allows estimation of population growth rate, as well as projection of future population sizes and quantitative analyses of fitness trade-offs involved in the evolution of life-history strategies. Successful species conservation is dependent on adequate estimates of population dynamics, but age-specific demographics are generally lacking for many long-lived iteroparous species such as large reptiles.
