Taipei: Taiwan plans to cull as many as 120,000 invasive green iguanas in 2025 in an effort to curb the species' impact on local farmers, the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) said Sunday.

According to Focus Taiwan, Chiu Kuo-hao, a section chief in the ministry's Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency, stated that green iguanas have spread across southern Taiwan and reached as far north as Taichung. Although there are no reliable statistics on the species' total population in the country, it is estimated to be around 200,000.

Chiu reported that approximately 70,000 iguanas were culled in 2024, with significant numbers removed from Pingtung County, Tainan, Chiayi, Kaohsiung, and Changhua. In 2025, with NT$20 million (US$607,027) in government funding, the MOA aims to increase the culling to 120,000 iguanas.

Drawing from its experience in eradicating the African sacred ibis, the ministry is primarily using professional hunting teams to manage the iguana population, which has settled in nine cities and counties. Around 300 individuals were recruited for these teams at hiring events held in Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Pingtung, with additional recruitment planned in Chiayi and Pingtung.

The ministry also plans to launch a new agricultural damage reporting app shortly after the Lunar New Year. This app will include a feature for farmers to report iguana sightings. Iguanas are considered agricultural pests and have caused significant damage to crops like red beans, gourds, and other vegetables in central and southern Taiwan.

To incentivize eradication efforts, the MOA offers professional hunters a bounty of NT$500 for each iguana of at least 30 centimeters in length and NT$200 for smaller ones. The general public is offered half these amounts for their participation.

Chiu expressed confidence in the iguana eradication effort, citing Taiwan's previous success in controlling the African ibis population, which was significantly reduced over a five-year period.