According to scientists at the University of Florida working with United States Geological Survey, and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, an invasive species of lizard known as tegus are threatening native species of alligators and turtles in Florida. Tegus are white and black lizards that can grow to be up to four feet long.
According to scientists at the University of Florida working with the United States Geological Survey, and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, an invasive species of lizard known as the Argentine black and white tegu are threatening native species of alligators and turtles in Florida.
The white and black colored lizards can grow up to four feet long.
They were first identified living in the wild in Florida around ten years ago.
They are native to Argentina and other parts of South America, and have adapted well to Florida’s climate. They are found in two separate populations, one in areas of the Everglades, and the other near Tampa on the west coast.
Lead author of the study Frank Mazzotti, a wildlife ecology and conservation professor at the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, is quoted as saying: "The lesson is we've got to leap, we cannot wait. If we focus on answering all the questions about how many there are and what their impact will be, there will be too many tegus to do anything about."
There are many invasive species living in Florida, and most of them were pets that either escaped or were released into the wild when they got too big to take care of.
