Tegus first arrived in South Florida via the exotic pet trade about 2002. Within a decade, Mazzotti and others sounded the alarm that the cold-hardy, omnivorous, fecund lizard — females lay up to 35 eggs at a time — could become another invasive threat, with two potential breeding populations established near Florida City and the Tampa area.
Biologists worry that if tegus continue to spread, crocodile nesting grounds managed by the utility for 25 years and credited with helping revive the once-endangered species could be in peril. They were upgraded to threatened in 2007.
“This is one of the times I can correctly say they literally eat everything: plants, seeds, insects, small animals, birds, snakes, frogs. They eat everything,” Mazzotti said. What’s more worrisome is their hankering for eggs.
1-888-Ive-Got1 andwww.IveGot1.orgThe phone number and web site for reporting tegus to state wildlife officials.
This spring when tegus emerged from their winter hibernation, FPL ran a line of traps and set up cameras on the western border of the canals to “create a curtain to block that migration into croc territory,” said Amy Albury, the utility’s director of environmental relations and sustainability. Over the spring, they snared four. So far, no evidence suggests tegus are harming the croc population, she said. But if they spread near the canals as rapidly as they spread to the west, that could change.
Last year, nearly 760 tegus were trapped in the area, setting a new record, said Kristen Sommers, a section leader for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s division of habitat and species conservation. With the trapping season set to end next month, this year will likely see similar numbers, she said.
That means tegus are climbing something called the invasion curve, a measure biologists use to assess exotic pests. Low on the curve, it’s possible to contain them. Past a certain point they could become the next Burmese python. With numbers continuing to soar, and tegus still widely available in pet stores, wildlife agencies last year teamed up to better coordinate efforts. They set a goal of containing the tegus — everyone recognized they were too late to eradicate them — and also enlisted FPL. UF trappers also focused on catching juveniles, upping their count from two last year to 50 this year.
To the west of Florida City, biologists are also keeping a close watch on the border with Everglades National Park, where sweeping sawgrass marshes offer an escape inaccessible to trappers. Park officials maintain a line of traps checked daily, said Tylan Dean, chief of the park’s biological resources branch. But he worries about land the park can’t monitor.
I would say we have good coverage along the park perimeter near Florida City. But my concern is that we don’t have much effort north of that.
Biologists are also scrambling to find a missing piece of the puzzle needed to better manage trapping efforts: a population count. Last year, they attached GPS trackers to some tegus and released them. They also set up cameras near traps along with roads and levees that tegu travel. Without a reliable count there is no way to tell if trapping is controlling the population. It’s critical information that Mazzotti worries may come too late.