Helping an Iguana, hurting Florida
When Miami firefighters heard about an iguana stuck in the dashboard of a car over the weekend, they did what firefighters do. They rescued the four-foot reptile.
The lizard likely would have died a painful death if not for the 911 call from the man who discovered him shortly after leaving work. After its rescue, news reports said the lizard was released “where he belonged, in some nearby brush.”
But the truth is that iguanas do not belong in Florida. They are an exotic, non-native species that is considered invasive. And while it is legal to trap iguanas on private property using a humane method, it is illegal to transport and abandon them elsewhere – including the brush next to a parking lot in Miami.
Miami firefighters did not have the option to kill or maim the animal because anti-cruelty laws protect the three species of iguana that live in Florida.
The sad fact is that the iguana should have been turned over to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission for humane euthanasia. Every year, Miami-Dade Animal Control euthanizes dozens of iguanas, which once they become feral, are difficult to train and make poor pets.
Because of their tropical nature, pet green iguanas that have escaped or been released by irresponsible owners have thrived in southern Florida. And because they have no natural predator, their populations have exploded.
Hundreds of thousands of iguanas now run free in South Florida. While area residents are used to seeing these creatures roaming their neighborhoods, most Floridians would be surprised to hear how pervasive they’ve become. Because they cannot survive the cooler weather, they are rarely seen north of Orlando.
To keep the problem from getting worse, more needs to be done to control those in captivity. Changes must be made in the pet industry, which makes millions of dollars each year on the sale of reptiles.
Let’s go out on a limb and encourage Florida lawmakers to more strictly regulate ownership. Florida should ban the sale of iguanas in pet stores and prohibit them from being given away as carnival prizes. Permitted breeders, wildlife rescue groups and herpetological societies should only be allowed to sell infertile animals. Pet lizards longer than 2 inches should be micro-chipped. And it should be illegal to feed wild iguanas.
Though iguanas will not be eradicated from Florida anytime soon, the state must get a handle on this invasive species, work to minimize the damage these reptiles cause and prevent the problem for growing.
Formerly a reporter for the Tampa Bay Times and Orlando Sentinel, Susan Clary is a freelance writer who runs a nonprofit animal rescue in Orlando. She can be reached at [email protected].
