It was a busy week for a Miami-Dade County first responder who specializes in catching invasive pythons. One was first pulled from the engine of a tractor-trailer, and another was wrangled in a dark yard less than a day later.
Georgia residents may not expect to find a four-foot-long reptile native to South America in their backyards.
But wildlife officials are now warning residents to be on the lookout for an invasive species that threatens native wildlife, spreads disease and disrupts habitats across the region.
The Argentine black and white tegu, a large lizard that can grow up to four feet long and weigh more than 10 pounds, has been found in Toombs and Tattnall counties in southeast Georgia.
Lagarto Teiú / Black-and-white Tegu / Salvator merianae
(Wladimir Lopes / Getty Images)
The Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is urging residents to report sightings of the species or trap and kill the reptiles.
The invasive lizards have become a growing concern across the state due to their appetite to eat a variety of animals and ability to reproduce quickly.
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Tegus are known to prey on a wide range of native wildlife, including the eggs of alligators, ground-nesting birds such as quail and wild turkeys and threatened species like hatchling gopher tortoises.
Argentine black and white tegu at the breathtaking mighty Iguazu Falls in Iguazu National Park on the Boarder of Argentina and Brazil, South America
(Bkamprath / Getty Images)
In addition to native wildlife, tegus will eat chicken eggs, fruits, vegetables, plants, pet food, carrion and small animals ranging from grasshoppers to young tortoises.
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Authorities are also concerned that the reptiles could spread exotic parasites to native wildlife and contaminate crops with bacteria, as many tegus carry salmonella.
Argentine black and white tegu (Salvator merianae), also called the Argentine giant tegu, the black and white tegu, the huge tegu, and the lagarto overo in Spanish
(Christian Peters / Getty Images)
The DNR first began investigating reports of Argentine black and white tegus in Georgia in 2018, but the species has spread rapidly since then.
Native to Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina, the Argentine black and white tegu is one of the largest tegu species in the world.
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With few predators, tegus can multiply quickly. Females can lay up to 35 eggs each year, with hatchlings typically happening in June and July in Georgia.
Black and white Tegu (Tupinambis merianae), a very big lizard, walking around in the wetlands of the North Pantanal in Mato Grosso, Brazil
(Henk Bogaard / Getty Images)
To combat this problem, the DNR is working with partners including the U.S. Geological Survey and Georgia Southern University to trap the tegus in Toombs and Tattnall counties, remove the animals from the wild and research the population.
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Officials hope that through continued efforts and public cooperation, the invasive species can eventually be eradicated from the state.
