Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officials are trying to prevent the black and white tegu lizard from turning into another issue for the state
Over 100 have been discovered from Riverview Fla., and Gibsonton. Officials are worried the influx will destroy the habitat of lizards who have already been there, and have therefore placed 28 traps throughout the and, along with dozens of others on secluded property television station WTSP reported Wednesday.
Officials have attempted to attract the lizards with uncooked chicken egg, capture them in the trap before euthanizing them WTSP reported
"People buy these cute little lizards at the pet store and then they grow to be too big for an aquarium and they are too expensive to feed and then they just set them free in the preserves," said FWC biologist, Tessie Offner, a biologist with the commission told television station WTSP.
"They produce rapidly, laying between 25-50 eggs at a time," Offner told WTSP. "They eat everything from plants to other animals with bones and shells- also amphibians, and birds."
The Tegus lizard species hail from South America in countries such as Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Argentina, and have since proclaimed Florida's Southwest region their most recent residence WTSP reported.
"We had a whole gopher turtle preserve on our 1,100 acres and now they are all gone," Marvel Stewart, a volunteer horse rescue worker told WTSP. "We see four to five a week on our property."
"One got into our horse shed, and thankfully the horse was not in there at the time, but if it had been it would have been bad because the horse would have bucked, and possibly hurt herself trying to run from the lizard," Stewart told WTSP.
The commission ask those who see the Tegu Lizard to snap a photo and notify the commission on their hotline at 1-888-466-4681.
