Invasive Lizard ‘Around 5 Feet Long’ Spotted Off Road in FloridaA video of the massive reptile has since gone viral on Facebook
By
Marina Watts
A five-foot-long lizard was seen in North Port, Florida, casually walking along a busy road earlier this month in a now-viral video.
The Miami Herald reported that the lizard, which is presumably an Asian water monitor, is an invasive species. They are typically between four and six feet long, but can grow up to 10 feet in length.
The video was captured by Renee Aland along Hillsborough Boulevard during a drive with her daughter, Zoey Marzonie. She shared her videos and photos of the encounter on Facebook on May 20, writing that she “did a double take” while driving and reported the sighting with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
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An invasive lizard spotted alongside a Florida road. RENEE ALAND/TMX
“This Asian Water Moniter was around 5ft long… I had been sitting there waiting to see it again as they wouldn’t even make a report without photographic proof,” Aland wrote online. “It was seen coming out of the woods near the canal on Hillsboro Blvd behind the Kia dealership and just south of Bamboo rd.”
“He’s just, like, strutting across the road,” Aland says in one Facebook video. She can also be heard telling her teenage daughter to stay in the car after she asks to get closer to the lizard.
Aland tells PEOPLE that she thought her “eyes were playing tricks” on her when first she saw the giant lizard, so she pulled over and watched the brush in her rear view mirror to try and spot it again.
She calls trying to get proof to send the FFWCC “an exercise in futility” and was “kind of shocked” when the reptile finally emerged again for her video.
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Another shot of the lizard. RENEE ALAND/TMX
Aland also noticed that the semi-aquatic lizard wasn’t a stranger to crossing busy roads. “I was a little taken aback at how many times it attempted to cross the street and turned around,” she said to McClatchy News, adding that the animal “would do some damage” to a car.
FFWCC officials told McClatchy News that they “believe it to be an Asian water monitor (Varanus salvator) but are unable to definitively confirm identification based off the video that was sent to us.” However, their team of biologists are monitoring sightings of this animal to “determine potential response efforts.”
If you’re ever to encounter an Asian water monitor lizard, the FFWCC encourages people to report it to the invasive species hotline and call 888-IVE-GOT1.
Invasive Lizard ‘Around 5 Feet Long’ Spotted Off Road in Florida (people.com)
Invasive Dog-Sized Lizards Are Spreading Across the Southeastern United States
South Carolina officials said the species can have "serious negative impacts" on the area's wildlife
By Claudia Harmata
Published on November 23, 2020 05:15PM EST
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PHOTO: HAL BERAL /VW PICS/UNIVERSAL IMAGES GROUP/GETTY
The Argentine black-and-white tegu has made its way to the United States' southeast, and experts are warning about the harmful impacts it could have on the area's ecosystem.
According to National Geographic, the invasive, dog-sized lizards are native to South America but are now spreading to places like Georgia, South Carolina, Texas, Louisiana, and Alabama, after being bred in southern Florida for over a decade.
Amy Yackel Adams, a biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, told the outlet that the lizards were first brought to the U.S. as pets, however as some escaped or were released into the wild, they began to spread. Now experts say it's becoming a problem, as they can be particularly dangerous to endangered species in the area.
"The entire southeast portion of the United States is at risk," Adams told National Geographic. "Much of this area has a climate that is suitable for tegus."
According to Adams, the species thrives in upland forests and grasslands, particularly those that receive a lot of seasonal rain. She noted that with climate change, as tropical and subtropical zones start to shift north, the tegus will have a larger region to expand.
The animals — which can grow up to 4 feet long — are omnivores and will eat anything, including eggs, birds, strawberries, vegetables, and even sea turtles.
The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources documented their first confirmed sighting of the lizard in August and said it can have "serious negative impacts" on the state’s wildlife.
"Tegus mature and reproduce quickly, though most concerning may be their preference for eggs and the potential impacts to our native ground-nesting birds like turkey and quail, as well as other species such as the state-endangered gopher tortoise," herpetologist Andrew Grosse said in a statement at the time.
To combat the tegus invasion, some states have asked wildlife officials to begin trapping the animal while they search for a solution.
In Georgia, experts are reporting that it seems to be working as they are finding fewer of the animals.
"We’ve been trapping them for a couple of years now," Daniel Sollenberger, a herpetologist with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, told the National Geographic. "We brought in around a dozen last year and about a half a dozen this year. It could be that there are fewer of them now, at least in that location.”
The Georgia Reptile Society also created a Tegu Task Force to include the community in finding suspected tegus.
"We do everything we can to get the animal, capture it, and try to rehome it,” said Justyne Lobello, president of the Georgia Reptile Society. "We want to help take them out of the habitat as humanely as possible. It helps that we have a long waiting list of people who want one as a pet."
Dog-Sized Lizards Spreading Across Southeastern United States (people.com) |
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