Firecracker attacks on Taiwan's invasive iguanas call for a government crackdown

Cruelty towards iguanas in Taiwan has prompted the animal rights groups to call for a government crackdown. Cruelty includes acts like stuffing firecrackers in the reptiles’ mouths or shooting them with bows and arrows. According to reports by The Guardian, the Environment & Animal Society of Taiwan (East) said that the local and provincial government campaigns which control the spread of introduced species lacked guidelines that lead to a “chaotic free-for-all at the expense of the welfare of the targeted animals”.

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Cruelty against iguanas 

As per reports by The Guardian, few campaigns offered food and cash bounties to people who killed green iguanas and brown anoles. East talked about one cash bounty scheme of the year 2017 which was subscribed within a day and had no verification process. A researcher for the organisation, Hsin-Yuan Chang said that the problem with the current situation is that there are certain people who are not completely familiar with animal behaviour. These people cannot tell native species from non-native species which look alike. Terming the used methods as inhumane, he further added that there is no help for the conservation work. 

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There are various social media posts that show how the species were killed through  bows and arrows, sliced open while. There were also cases where the species had limbs taped to the side of their bodies after firecrackers were set inside their mouth. The meat is currently on sale on various online platforms. Lin Shu-fen, a legislator with the ruling Democratic Progressive Party said that the population management of non-native invasive species plays an important role in the protection of biodiversity. He further added that animal removal should take into account animal welfare and conservation values should be promoted. 

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