A task force would be established to curb a surge in green iguanas in southern Taiwan, with a bounty for the lizards to be raised to NT$500 to NT$800 (US$15.37 to US$24.59) each, Minister of Agriculture Chen Junne-jih (陳駿季) said yesterday.
An estimated 200,000 green iguanas have caused serious agricultural damage in areas south of Yunlin County.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislators Lai Jui-lung (賴瑞隆) said in a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee that although a budget of NT$120 million over four years has been allocated, stronger measures are needed to counter the lizards’ ability to rapidly reproduce.
Photo: CNA
The ministry should set up an interagency platform to assist local governments in capturing green iguanas, he said, adding that the central government’s assistance is particularly needed around the borders of administrative regions.
Lai said he expects green iguanas to be reduced to fewer than 100,000.
Chen said told the meeting that an interagency task force would be established by the end of this month to aid local governments’ efforts to control the lizards.
Photo courtesy of the Pingtung County Government
As some local governments hunt green iguanas with simple weapons such as slingshots, the ministry would discuss the feasibility of using air rifles to control their numbers, he said, adding that the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency’s African sacred ibis task force would join efforts to hunt green iguanas.
The annual budget for the effort would be increased to NT$30 million, and the bounty would be boosted to NT$500 to NT$800 from NT$200 to NT$500, Chen said.
Details on the plan would be unveiled by the end of this year, he said.
Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency Director-General Lin Hwa-ching (林華慶) said the agency would recruit volunteers to help.
The Taiwan Airsoft and Airgun Association on Sunday said that air guns are rarely used in crimes and are a safe, effective and low-cost means to remove small invasive species or agricultural pests such as green iguanas or rats.
However, Taiwanese air gun manufacturers cannot produce high-powered air guns — which are useful for farm management or small-scale hunting — even with their competitive techniques and pricing, as they cannot sell them abroad, it said.
An ad hoc program to allow the production of high-powered air guns is not enough for manufacturers, as they cannot export the products or sell them in the domestic market afterward, the association said.
Creating high-powered gun molds is an unprofitable business, which is why no Taiwanese manufacturers make them, it said.
The government should follow the example of Japan or other countries to formulate regulations on high-powered gun manufacturing in Taiwan, while also allowing exports of the guns or the sale of them to qualified agricultural workers or indigenous peoples, the association said.
Green iguanas originated in central and southern America and were introduced as pets to Taiwan about 20 to 30 years ago. Abandoned green iguanas have for years been reproducing in the wild.
A female iguana can hatch 70 to 80 offspring every year. Taiwan’s suitable weather and lack of natural enemies are driving their population growth.
From January to last month, more than 24,000 iguanas have been seized in Pingtung County, with the most affected areas ranging from Pingtung County and Kaohsiung to Tainan and Chiayi County, according to local media reports.
The green iguana invasion is progressing northward and has in the past few weeks extended into Yunlin County, the reports said.
Additional reporting by CNA
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