The US state of Florida has recently started encouraging its citizens to kill green iguanas on their own property “whenever possible”. This is evident from an updated version of the entry of the same type on the website of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). The animals are not protected in Florida, except for the anti-animal cruelty law, it says in the first paragraph. “Homeowners do not need permission to kill green iguanas on their property, and the FWC encourages homeowners to kill green iguanas on their property whenever possible.”
In addition, the Commission explicitly points out that there are 22 public areas in South Florida where these animals can also be killed without permission. The authority does not advise how to let the green iguanas bless time. Male representatives of this species, including the tail, grow to be between 1.50 meters and more than two meters long and can weigh around ten kilograms of body weight.
Florida: Green iguanas have been resident since the 1960s
According to NBC Miami, the animals have been living in the wild in Florida since the 1960s. Like many reptiles, they were popular as pets and then reproduced in nature due to the optimal weather and environmental conditions. Exact numbers are not known, according to the US media, but their numbers are said to have increased rapidly in recent decades. They are considered an invasive species and, according to the FWC, primarily destroy domestic plants and cause damage to dams.
January 6: It rains Leguane
Florida, United States. The unusual cold in the US state of Florida caused iguanas to rain: the animals, which froze due to the very low temperatures, simply fell out of the trees. “At four degrees Celsius, green iguanas can freeze because their blood stops flowing,” said Sarah Lessard of the nature conservation commission of the otherwise sun-drenched state. “The large iguanas move very slowly and can fall out of the trees at ten degrees.”
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Last winter, the iguanas in Florida made headlines mainly because they apparently fell shock-frozen from the trees there. This was due to the unusual cold last winter, with which the immigrated animals could not cope. At temperatures around five degrees Celsius, they would freeze and could not stay on the trees. Numerous pictures of it made the round on the net. The animals usually survived when placed in the sun.
Swell: Florida Fish and Wilflife Conservation Commission / NBC Miami / CNN
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