The Argentine Tezu Lizard is being adding to the growing list of predatory animals becoming more prevalent in the Florida Everglades. The list already includes the Burmese pythons that officials are trying to wrangle up due to the threat they cause the native animals. The tegu grows a maximum size of four feet, and although they aren’t able to eat an entire deer or alligator, they can potentially cause even more ecological damage than the 18-foot snakes that have drawn attention recently.
“When we first found out about them in 2008, we thought we had a chance to nip this population in the bud,” said the National Park Service’s Tony Pernas, who co-chairs the Everglades Cooperative Invasive Species Management Area group. “Now we’ve changed from eradication mode to containment mode.”
The Argentine Tezu lizard has long been a staple of the exotic pet trade and they were likely released by irresponsible owners or they escaped from breeding facilities in south Miami-Dade County. Federal, state and local agencies, with help from local trappers, are trying to round up as many of the animals as possible before they go into hibernation.
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