Invasive Iguana Species Might be Up for Hunting Soon in Miami Beach, Florida

FLORIDA - Due to the huge number of invasive iguana species in Miami Beach, a cash reward may be offered for their removal via hunting.

The iguanas, which are invasive to the well-known beach and have been multiplying quickly and causing damage, have prompted officials to propose paying hunters to kill the animals.

Barbara Benis, a resident, said that there must be additional action taken. She is frustrated because she had to rebuild her seawall after the iguanas destroyed it.

Green Iguanas in Miami

Green iguanas, are invasive in Miami and are native to South and Central America. The population of Florida is thought to have increased due to the pet trade after people are thought to have arrived via boats that carry fruit shipments.

Iguanas, which can grow to be 5 feet long, are regarded as invasive because they harm the fauna, flora, and property in the area.

Iguanas eat fruit and vegetables, including the endangered native plant butterfly sage (Cordia globosa), and nickernut or nickerbean, which is a key food source for the endangered Miami blue butterfly, causing damage to residential and commercial landscape vegetation, claims the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission (FWC).

Burrows dug by the iguanas also erode and cause the collapse of sea walls, canal banks, sidewalk foundations, and foundations. They might leave a lot of droppings around swimming pools and porches that could contaminate humans with salmonella.

Growing Budget

The $50,000 budget for dealing with iguanas has been increased to $200,000 this year, according to Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber. On September 14, during a discussion of the best way to handle the invasion, it was proposed that offering a reward for each killed iguana might encourage the neighborhood to get involved.

The invasive reptiles could be captured either dead or alive, according to Commissioner Kristen Rosen Gonzalez. However, they will obtain more iguanas from Miami if they pay per individual reptile. Gonzales believes that people will go out and hunt the iguanas the best they can for the reward, which is a better use of the budget.

Cobra Effect

Green iguanas are only protected in Florida by anti-cruelty laws, so they can be lawfully put to death on private property on any day of the year with the consent of the landowner.

This strategy may encourage people to kill iguanas, but it also runs the risk of encouraging the "cobra effect," or a perverse incentive, which is a well-known trap for locals.

The British colonial government's disastrous campaign in India, where they offered reward money for dead cobras to reduce the local venomous cobra populations, inspired the name.

Locals realized they could make much more money if they bred the cobras so that they can them rather than simply killing and receiving payment for any cobras they came across.

There were more cobras in the area at the end of the campaign than there had been at the beginning after the authorities realized what was happening, which caused the locals to release their now-worthless snakes.

Whether or not Florida decides to implement a bounty, the FWC offers suggestions for how to protect property from iguanas, such as removing plants that serve as attractants, filling in holes to prevent burrowing, hanging chimes or other objects that make sporadic noises that will deter them and watering the animals, Newsweek reports.