More than 4,000 green iguanas were caught in southern Taiwan last year, raising fears the invasive species is growing out of control, CNA reported on Tuesday (Dec. 31).
Citing a Pingtung County Department of Agriculture news release on Tuesday, the report said that many southern Taiwanese will have seen the reptiles running around in the wild. Green iguana young have emerald green bodies and are considered cute, so they were introduced to Taiwan as pets for sale, the department said.
When the iguanas are older, they are long and look like "Godzilla," a fictional monster originating from a series of Japanese films of the same name, according to the department. This caused owners to release their iguanas into the wild, where they bred and spread rapidly, the department said, per CNA. Not only do the iguanas eat crops, they also cause ecological disruption, the department continued.
In 2013, Pingtung County Government started to take action and curb the wild green iguana population. Pingtung County Department of Agriculture Director-General Huang Kuo-jung (黃國榮) said the county government caught 26 green iguanas in 2013, 51 in 2014, 345 in 2015, 1,068 in 2017, and 1,082 in 2018.
Since July, the county government has stepped up its pursuit of green iguanas by offering “Eagle" red beans and organic Manzhou black soy beans in exchange, the news agency reported. From July 1 to the year-end, 2,132 green iguanas were exchanged for beans, while the Wild Bird Society of Ping-Tung caught 2,050 iguanas this year, a total catch of 4,182.
Huang said the gift beans incentive will continue this year, and urged people to catch more green iguanas. However, he also urged those catching larger iguanas to be careful of being bitten and of being hurt by their tails, which they use to attack.
Source：Taiwan News
