BOCA BEACON (Florida) 22 April 05 Solving iguana problem a long shot
Solving Gasparilla Island's iguana problem – if it can be solved – will require gathering information about the lizard's biology and behavior, a scientist working with Lee County Animal Services said.
"It's a long shot, because there are so many and they seem to be so well established," said Jerome "Jerry" Jackson, Ph.D. "We know very little about the biology of these iguanas and what we know is not from here. Their biology could be different here. We've got to get a handle on what their habitats are, when they breed, how many eggs they lay and how the population might increase."
In December, the Gasparilla Island Conservation and Improvement Association sponsored an attempted iguana "roundup" by a couple from Clearwater. The two-day hunt netted two lizards.
Jackson is attempting a more methodical approach. He teaches biology at Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers and hosts the daily program "With the Wild Things" on WGCU.
A specialist in invasive exotic plants and animals, Jackson serves on the 30-person National Invasive Species Advisory Committee, which tells the president and his cabinet how to deal with unwanted foreign guests.
Since they were introduced in the early 1970s, the iguanas have flourished on the island. Their detractors say they're more than a household nuisance. It's claimed they eat gardens and hatchling birds, including some endangered species.
Jackson has outlined a $16,000 research project that would spend the summer gathering the necessary information. A three-person team consisting of Jackson, his wife Bette, also a professor of biology, and a student would spend one day a week from dawn to dusk on the island, studying the iguanas.
"Distance is a problem," Jackson said. "A large part of the budget is travel. Once we're there, we'll want to spend all day there."
Jackson's team will try to trap some iguanas and collect any road-killed specimens they can find.
"We want to know what diseases and parasites they carry, what threats they might pose to other species," he said. "We'll have to dissect some. We have no idea at what age they're breeding."
Cooperation from island residents will be an essential part of the process.
"A great deal can be done with information from the general public," Jackson said. "They can provide a tremendous amount of information that will speed us up and help us learn what we can in the shortest amount of time."
If he gets the go-ahead soon from Scott Trebatoski, director of Lee County Animal Services, Jackson said he could have a preliminary report on the reptiles ready by mid-September. Trebatoski was on vacation and could not be reached for comment.
"We'll know how to proceed with a control project, or how to eliminate them," Jackson said. "It will be very difficult, but it's not impossible."
Whatever Jackson learns could be applied to Fort Myers Beach and Keywaden Island, two other locations where the iguanas have been spotted.
Jackson is calling in some help. A group working under the direction of Joe Corn with the University of Georgia, one of Jackson's colleagues on the advisory committee, will study the iguanas' external parasites.
Jackson emphasized that iguanas will not be mistreated.
"The key is, we have to work entirely within the law and humanely in all ways," he said. "They're certainly an invasive exotic, and a serious problem that should be dealt with. But these creatures didn't ask to be brought here and turned loose. A large number will have to be euthanized."
Jackson scoffed at the idea of "taming" the iguanas and giving them away to reptile collectors.
"I've raised them from hatchling size, and they don't make good pets," he said. "Giving them away just runs the risk of spreading out the population."
Solving iguana problem a long shot