With images of green iguanas being tortured and blown up with firecrackers going viral on the Internet and gaining international attention, the government needs to seriously re-examine its handling of the highly invasive species.
Few people are arguing against the need to drastically contain the green iguana population, which has increased 27-fold over the past five years. Imported as pets and abandoned in an environment where they have no natural predators, they are considered a threat to Taiwan’s agriculture and ecosystem, as they destroy crops, force out native species and damage irrigation canals.
It is unfortunate that the government has to exterminate these lizards — which are actually the victims, as this is a problem caused entirely by humans — so doing it as painlessly as possible is the least that can be done.
However, it was clear that abuse was bound to happen if locals, who already despise the lizards due to their impact on their livelihoods, were allowed to hunt them as they saw fit.
After a cash reward scheme led to some people deliberately breeding green iguanas to maximize their bounty, Pingtung County started giving out red beans instead.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lin Shu-fen (林淑芬) last week said that the government should stop subsidizing hunters and leave the job to certified professionals, but if the current effort — which yielded 14,536 iguanas last year — is still not enough, how would downsizing work?
For example, take the stray dog problem: To work, it requires a large number of volunteers regularly trapping dogs and taking them to be neutered.
However, Lin is right in that the effort to remove iguanas must be highly organized and regulated.
It is clear that iguana hunting is becoming a regular activity in areas where they are commonly found, and there must be rules to prevent abuse and methods that might exacerbate the situation.
For example, take the family who went viral in December last year for capturing 41 iguanas within a day: They certainly had good intentions: In their video, they tell viewers who want to join their cause to “act humanely” and bury the corpses in small groups to avoid affecting the environment.
Yet it takes skill to do what they did, leading to worries that an influx of novice hunters with no plan could scare the iguanas into expanding their territory and hamper their containment.
The effort needs to be coordinated and executed systematically, and professionals should provide proper training for would-be hunters before they are allowed into the field.
Ultimately, awareness about pet ownership and tightened restrictions on the importation of exotic pets are needed to prevent another disaster.
Finally, despite health experts warning against eating the lizards as they could carry diseases and parasites, doing so is legal, as they are neither endangered nor pets. In December last year, someone posted several recipes for green iguanas on the Internet.
People can eat whatever they want at their own risk as long as they do not break the law, but there have already been cases of people selling iguana meat on the Internet. If the trend catches on and creates a demand for the meat, it would certainly create a greater problem.
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