Fort Myers News-Press
- Florida’s wildlife agency revised regulations to allow increased capture and out-of-state sale of invasive green iguanas.
- While the new rules are welcomed, some say further action is needed regarding iguana caging regulations and the collection of tegu lizards, another invasive species.
- Invasive reptiles pose a significant threat to Florida’s ecosystem, with over 60 nonnative species established in the state.
Conservationists and lizard fans are celebrating a win/win after Florida’s wildlife agency changed its rules to make it easier for people to snag invasive iguanas from the wild.
Though there’s more work to be done, a leading reptile nonprofit, United States Association of Reptile Keepers-Florida, applauds the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s vote to let more people catch live iguana, then sell them out of state, something that had been illegal.
The change is actually a bit of backtracking. Once upon a time, reptile entrepreneurs could stalk and bag the critters and sell them to an eager market.
Iguana sales from Florida a once-booming business
They removed hundreds of thousands each year, estimates USARK-FL spokesman Daniel Parker, though it “could have been over a million,” he says. “We don’t know exactly, but we do know that a lot of the big reptile dealers in Florida have reported to us that they were at exporting tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands.”
Then, in 2021, the commission, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment, implemented Prohibited Species rules, which severely restricted people’s ability to buy, sell or keep iguanas as pets. The intent was to reduce their populations and protect native species, but it backfired.
Once people stopped collecting them from the wild, boom went the iguana population.
“It left all of those iguanas now in the wild to basically grow up and breed,” Parker says. “Imagine all of those eggs hatching and those babies growing up, living in a lot in urban areas without a lot of natural predators. So those animals are just growing up and they’re all breeding (and) the population of iguanas is just exploding.”
So much for good intentions.
“If you have had hundreds of thousands or millions being harvested and that all stops, it stands to reason that’s going to increase the population,” Parker says.
Started as babies, iguanas can be decent pets, fans sau
Since 2021 USARK and other groups have been trying to convince the commission to reform the rules. On May 21, they did.
“We have worked very hard with FWC to create rule changes which will allow more people to remove nonnative species,” USARK Florida President Elizabeth Wisneski said in a release. “This will benefit Florida’s environment and our small businesses.”
Plenty of people want to keep iguanas, which, if handled as babies, can become reasonably docile pets, Parker says. “I find iguanas to be delightful animals. Some people will disagree with me on that,” though he allows that they can become problematic.
While the new rules are a good start, there’s more work to do, says Wisneski. “FWC must reform caging regulations to make it economically feasible for businesses to be able to house iguanas,” she says. And, she points out, “FWC has not taken action on allowing the collection of eggs.”
Tegus: a new invasive reptile threat on Florida’s horizon
The commission also needs to discuss another lizard many believe to be a serious emerging threat: tegus, another nonnative species Wisneski is concerned will cause trouble in the future.
“So they’ve changed a lot of (the rules) with iguanas, but they’re not opening up collection of tegus to more people,” Parker says. “Why would you not want every collector who’s out there targeting iguanas to also take a tegu if they see it?”
Iguanas and tegus are just two exotic reptile species now flourishing in Florida, which has “more established nonnative reptile and amphibian species than anywhere else in the world,” according to the University of Florida . “Over 60 species of introduced reptiles and amphibians have established breeding populations (and) Florida has three times as many established species of introduced lizards as native lizards.”
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Originally from Mexico, Central and South America, the critters are experts at range expansion, Parker says. “They can go in the wheel wells of planes, they ride on boats, they ride around on trucks. It’s one of those species that just finds its way around.”
They’re mostly vegetarian, though might snap at the chance to grab an egg or two, Marco Island iguana hunter John Johnson told the Naples Daily News in April.
They also can eat prized plants and dig burrows that mar lawns and sometimes undermine building foundations or seawalls. Then there’s the ick factor. Many, like Johnson client Sally Riley just find them gross and have no trouble with someone thinning their numbers. They’re just nasty, Riley told the Naples Daily News earlier this year, and the fewer there are, the better, she says, and the new rules should help with that.
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The changes, part of Chapter 68-5, Florida Administrative Code also cover:
- Qualifications for sales of live green iguanas.
- Caging requirements for captive juvenile green iguanas and tegus.
- Prohibited species pet permits.
- Additional options for FWC Law Enforcement for placement of Prohibited species with exhibition facilities operating out of residential properties.
“Addressing the threats of invasive species in Florida is a priority for the FWC, but we can’t do it alone,” said FWC Chair Rodney Barreto. “Approving these rule changes further empowers our stakeholders to get directly involved in removing green iguanas from the state, a win for Floridians and our native plants and wildlife.”
– This story has been updated to include Daniel Parker’s title.
Exposing the Big Game 