Officials celebrate astounding feat after removing more than 36,000 invasive lizards in mere months: 'A lot of people bought them as cute little pets'

Taiwan officials announced a huge win in the battle against invasive green iguanas in the country, removing thousands of the animals in just four months.

Taiwan's Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency (FNCA) reported that it had removed 36,543 green iguanas in 2025 up until April, triple the number in the same period in 2024, according to Taiwan News.

The FNCA utilized an app originally designed for reporting natural disasters threatening crops, which was updated with a function to report green iguana sightings. The organization also worked with four teams of indigenous hunters for more difficult-to-reach areas, as well as nine removal squads, totaling 1,635 people on the lookout for the lizards.

Green iguanas were introduced to Taiwan via the exotic pet trade around 20 years ago, according to The Economist. They now total around 200,000 and threaten farmers' crops like maize, red beans, and gourds, and they face no natural predators on the island.

Prime breeding time is in the period from spring to early summer, and the outlet said some believe their prolific numbers are due to unusually warm winters, tied to rising global temperatures.

FNCA Director General Lin Hwa-ching told Taiwan News that green iguanas tend to be found in clusters, with their presence a result of poor human management. Hwa-ching also urged the public not to demonize the animals, but instead focus on compassion during removal.

Watch now: Giant snails invading New York City?

Taiwan is one of several countries facing issues with green iguanas, a popular animal in the exotic pet trade that has been known to escape or be abandoned. It has even caused problems in Florida.

"A lot of people bought them as cute little pets, not realizing how big and long-lived they would become, so they set them free in the wild, where they've really taken to the Taiwanese environment," Lee Chi-ya of the agricultural department in the southern county of Pingtung told CNN.

Invasive species don't just come in the form of exotic pets, but non-native plants as well, which is something to consider when you're planting in your yard or garden.

Focusing on native species, whether plant or animal, helps ensure continued biodiversity and ultimately saves on resources (and money, too).