Miami’s iguana conundrum takes a turn as Miami-Dade County attempts to stop these cold-blooded lizards from falling out of the trees. Miami-Dade’s initiative against the Green Iguanas works to help eliminate the invasive population consisting of a species that poses a threat to Florida’s natural environment. 

“Iguanas are a major problem; they are a major invasive species in South Florida mainly because they are vegetarians. They have a really negative impact on our environment by taking out vegetation and they can damage small animals like small dogs,” Advanced Placement Environmental Science teacher Pamela Shlachtman said.

The initiative has assigned trappers to go out three times a week, focusing on capturing the iguanas they find. Miami-Dade is looking into having these species killed because of their negative impact on the natural environment and infrastructure of Miami’s unique environment. They leave large droppings, attack plants such as shrubs and reproduce at a very fast rate. With these iguanas being vegetarians, they cause issues that put Florida’s plants and wildlife in danger.

“[Unlike other invasive species like lionfish or pythons], iguanas have had a much longer hold on South Florida. It no longer gets really cold, so those kinds of temperatures would keep some of those populations in check. Iguanas don’t have any natural predators here in South Florida,” Shlachtman said.

Many iguanas have also been found dead at the hands of both big and small killers such as dogs. The larger problem resides in the iguana’s skin containing botulism poisoning, which stuns the limbs of the animals that eat it. This can cause those animals to become sick, often leading to death.

“The reason iguanas are more of an issue over pythons is that they live in our neighborhoods,” Shlachtman said. “Pythons are found more in the Everglades, while we see iguanas walking around the streets we live on.”  

Whether in your neighborhoods or out in the wildlife, iguanas have shown to be a major problem throughout Miami-Dade and they are trying to solve that issue.