Kaohsiung Agriculture Bureau offers iguana capturing lessons

Kaohsiung Agriculture Bureau offers iguana capturing lessons

2024-12-27

The number of invasive green iguanas in Southern Taiwan keeps multiplying. On Thursday, the Kaohsiung Agriculture Bureau kicked off enrollments for a green iguana capturing course. The 100 spots available were quickly snapped up. Let’s take a sneak peak of how iguanas are hunted in Kaohsiung.

A long fishing rod is aimed at a green iguana lurking on the eaves. It’s captured in an instant.

The invasive green iguana can now be spotted in Kaohsiung’s Renwu District. Local factory workers are making their own fishing rods to capture them.

Member of public
Here’s the noose. Wrap it around the neck and it’s tightened.

This factory worker says the humble fishing rod is an effective iguana-buster.

Member of public
They come out to sunbathe. So they sometimes go to our rooftop. If we see them, it’s usually quite easy to catch them.

Green iguanas have no natural predators in Taiwan. As such they’ve multiplied and became a threat to the local ecology. To train more iguana hunters, the Kaohsiung Agriculture Bureau started offering green iguana capturing lessons.

Liang Ming-chieh
Kaohsiung Agriculture Bureau
The course is now full with 100 enrollments. Our lessons include how to use tools such as the fishing rod and noose as well as the slingshot and prongs to remove iguanas.

The Ministry of Agriculture also offers a bounty of NT$250 for every captured iguana more than 30 cm long, and NT$100 for specimens 30 cm or shorter. It’s no wonder the hunting lessons are so popular.

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外來種"綠鬣蜥"氾濫! 高雄農業局捕捉訓練班名額秒殺

2024-12-27

外來種綠鬣蜥入侵，數量迅速攀升，引發生態危機，高雄市農業局26號開放"綠鬣蜥捕捉訓練班"網路報名，100個名額，瞬間秒殺，而在仁武區，最近也有綠鬣蜥出沒，當地民眾自製釣竿，也成功抓捕。

拿起長釣竿，瞄準屋簷上的一隻小綠鬣蜥，精準往牠頭部一套，綠鬣蜥立刻上鉤。

外來種綠鬣蜥入侵，出沒在高雄仁武區，當地工廠員工自製釣竿，自己來抓。

[[民眾]]
“這活套啊，這樣把牠套上去，套上去就束起來了”

釣竿加上釣魚線，就成為抓捕綠鬣蜥的工具，成功抓到好幾隻。

[[民眾]]
“牠會出來曬太陽啊，所以牠有時候都會爬到我們上面那曬太陽，如果有出現的話，(抓捕)成功率都很高啦”

綠鬣蜥沒有天敵，大量繁殖，引發生態危機，不只民間想方設法抓捕，高雄市府農業局也開辦"綠鬣蜥捕捉訓練班"。

[[高雄市政府農業局副局長梁銘憲]]
“招收100人目前已經全數額滿，(授課)例如利用長竿加套索，或者是利用彈弓加魚標，這些工具去作為移除訓練重要項目”

完成受訓的民眾，只要成功捕獲，農業部也頒發獎金， 30公分以上，每隻250元，未滿30公分的，每隻也有100元。

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