Taiwan bounty hunters kill invading iguanas as numbers soar

Armed with a truck, the Taiwanese bonus fisherman, Wu Cheng Hua, bends his two sides and aims to his deadly weapon in the Green Agwana, and he is one of tens of thousands in interstate in a government government.

The residents of Agwana have exploded in Taiwan since the giant lizards backed by SPIC from Central and South America have been introduced more than 20 years ago as strange pets.

Many escaped, or were thrown, and they were rapidly paid in the warm climate in the south of the island, invading the neighborhoods and flooding farmers’ crops.

After Wu ended his outfit at breakfast, he joins a group of fishermen who rented by the Bington County Government, which pays up to $ 500 ($ 15) for each Igno.

“Sometimes we were lucky and 300 iguana caught us in one day,” Wu, 25, told AFP.

“Sometimes we were not very fortunate and caught us two, three, or a scale.”

Carry the Harpoon Slip used in smooth hunting and wearing rubber shoes, and the fishermen wear their necks while wiping the thick forest of Agwana, which lives in the umbrella.

There are more mistakes than the strikes, as men make their stainless steel arrows in creatures known about pre -history in trees that are protected by leaves and branches.

Journalists from Agence France -Presse are monitored that the Eguana is drowning several meters on the ground and runs his life. Last fired several times before taking it out of the tree still alive.

Men link the legs arrested to prevent them from fleeing and leaving them on the ground while they continue to hunt.

“Perfect Storm”

Taiwan began executing Iguanas nearly 10 years ago, and this year’s goal was identified with more than 100,000.

Experts and government officials say the effort is unlikely to rent reptiles, which have also become pests in other countries, including the United States.

Some of the estimates of the population of Green Agwana in Taiwan 200,000. The female multiplies the Agwana once a year, and dozens of eggs lay at one time.

“Climate’s anomaly” has fueled the numbers of Agwana in recent years, said Chen Tyan Tin Hasi, a wildlife expert at the Bingong University of Science and Technology.

The lack of seasonal rains and warm winter unusually increased paragraph rates and survival in youth, which Chen said “an ideal storm for explosive population growth.”

The Director of the Ministry of Agriculture, Cheng Yong -Yu, said that the Bington Province increased an Ignana from a few hundred of the year at the beginning to 48,000 last year.

But Cheng said the most effective “removal strategies” was needed.

“Despite the forces of the workforce and the resources that are spent on its removal annually, their residents are still growing dramatically,” he said.

“Stir very quickly”

Local farmer has seen Cheng Hui Young Gwanas descended from the red beans crop of her family, even after they installed fishing networks to protect their fields from herbaceous animals.

Eguana lives in the thick bamboo that grows between its land and its river, and it comes down during the day to eat red beans buds.

“They move very quickly and we are not able to arrest them,” Cheng told AFP, as some farmers worry about resorting to cutting trees or abandoning crops completely.

Ordinary people are encouraged to participate in Aguana.

HSIN TSENG-Kuan said she was afraid the first time she faced Agwana on her farm and was determined to learn how to capture them.

“They are not even afraid of people,” said Hsin, 58, who is one of more than 80 people participating in a government training session where they show how to use an ambush column to Laso.

“When we saw one for the first time, they were the ones who were afraid,” Hsin told AFP.

“It looked like a small dinosaur.”

“Reducing the suffering”

The Peta Taiwan Animal Group urged “non -fatal strategies” to control the inhabitants of Agwana, or, if the execution is necessary, to “reduce suffering” of creatures.

Many fishermen told AFP that they would be more efficient and humanitarian if they are allowed to use air cannons, which are tightly controlled in Taiwan.

Wu and his colleagues end their chase early in the evening after hunting 14 iguana in three hours.

Reptiles – some of them are alive and stained with blood – were placed on the floor before they are thrown into a plastic box.

Fishermen must get rid of the Agana and keep them in the freezer so that they can be burned by the government.

While hunting was the most physical of his cooking function, Wu said he liked to help farmers to protect their crops.

“Otherwise, everything grows will be eaten,” said Wu.

“It is sad to see them like this.”

© 2025 AFP