Floridians now have a green light to kill non-native species who cross their paths, even on public lands.
- New law allows for killing of non-native species
- Species include Tegu lizard, pythons, lionfish
- Tegu lizards can endanger native species
Governor Rick Scott signed SB 168 into law, which will allow reptiles like the Tegu lizard, a species native to South America, to be either captured or destroyed.
The law requires Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to create a pilot program with trappers to capture or destroy several non-native species and track how that work slows the growth of these creatures in Florida, with the goal of eventually eradicating them from the state.
The measure is designed to prevent creatures like the Tegu from attacking other species that are native to Florida. Thousands of these lizards have already burrowed in counties across the state including Hillsborough and Miami-Dade.
"They're incredibly voracious animals so they're going to hit alligator eggs, bird eggs, turtle eggs and all of our native species," says Dusty Showers, owner of Creepy Creatures, Inc., a pest and wildlife control business in the Tampa Bay area.
The Florida State Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says it captured 5,300 Tegus since 2012.
Other species that could be captured and killed under the new law include pythons like the Burmese python, the green anaconda, nile monitors and lionfish.
There are already programs to capture or destroy Burmese pythons, and lionfish are currently allowed to be caught and sold all year long.