Introduced as cute pets they turn into 'Godzilla'-like reptiles and have spread wildly after being released by owners

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/01/01
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer\

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — 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.    [FULL  STORY]