Taipei Times
Date: Jun 27, 2019
By: Lo Hsin-chung and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writer
The Pingtung County Government on Tuesday said it is offering a reward for green iguanas, an
Photographs of green iguanas are depicted on a Pingtung County Government poster offering red beans as a reward for catching the invasive lizards.
Photo courtesy of the Pingtung County Government
From Monday to Dec. 20, people who bring in green iguanas at least 20cm in length from snout to vent would be given a package of Eagle red beans for each reptile captured dead or alive, the county said in a news statement.
People should turn in live or newly killed green iguanas to the Pingtung or Chaojhou fire department stations to receive their reward, it said.
Native to the Americas, green iguanas were introduced to Taiwan as pets, it said, adding that many owners abandoned the animals after realizing that a mature specimen could grow to up to 1.5m.
While iguanas are not aggressive, they have been known to scare people and they can eat enough vegetables to affect a farmer’s income, it said.
Left unchecked, a large population of wild green iguanas could endanger life and property by destroying irrigation and ditches, as they burrow for warmth and to reproduce, it said.
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