Sep 16, 2008 9:12 pm US/Eastern
The Talk Of The Green Iguana Invasion
Broward County Discusses What Action To Take Against A Growing Population Of Wild Iguanas
FT. LAUDERDALE (CBS4) ―
-
-
Iguanas have overrun some neighborhoods in South Florida, creating the need for people who can get into an iguana's head and hunt them down.
CBS
The Broward County Commission on Tuesday will take up the issue of what it can do about iguanas. People in Broward have been concerned about the issue, complaining iguanas are a nuisance.
"There have been many communities that have come forward, concerned about the overpopulation," said Broward County Mayor Lois Wexler in a meeting Tuesday.
The Broward officials want to ask the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to classify the lizards as ``reptiles of concern.'' The classification would require people who buy iguanas to microchip them, as well as pay a $100 licensing fee each year.
The common theory is that lax pet owners freed the iguanas, locking them out of their homes and leaving them to roam the subtropical environment of South Florida. They started to settle and mate in canals, near trees and in subdivisions, polarizing neighbors who loved their exotic nature and those who saw them as nuisances.
Experts believe that the reptiles are so widespread in Florida that limiting their sale won't affect their breeding.
The state wildlife agency has come out against the ''reptiles of concern'' classification, according to Scott Hardin, the agency's exotic-species expert, who was interviewed by
CBS4 news partners
The Miami Herald. He said the category was created for reptiles more than 12-feet long that cause some type of threat -- not for flower-loving iguanas.
Iguanas, which are native to South America, were introduced to South Florida in 1966.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Disney Worker Killed In Monorail Crash
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
