Invasive Tegu Lizards Are Eating Their Way Through Southeastern US

An invasive species of giant lizards are cropping up in the southeastern United States.

The Argentine black-and-white tegu is a stout lizard native to South America. Populations are now established in Florida, and researchers are finding more populations in Georgia, says Amy Yackel Adams, a research ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey.

The resilient species has been known to resist removal efforts and has some state wildlife departments worried.

When these lizards have enough resources, they can get pretty large, Yackel Adams says — but the tegus found in Georgia are less than 2 feet long on average from the snout to the tail tip.

Hundreds of tegus already live in Florida, but this summer was the first that multiple U.S. states reported tegu lizard sightings. In Georgia, 30 documented tegus have been removed from the wild. Eight tegus were removed from the wild in South Carolina this past summer, she says.

How did this invasive species make its way to the U.S.? Some Americans raise tegus for the pet trade, and those animals are being intentionally or accidentally released into the environment, Yackel Adams says.

Yackel Adams, along with a team of scientists, created models in 2018 that determined all of Mexico and the southern portion of the U.S. could be a suitable habitat for tegus, and “if they are released, they could take a foothold,” she says. But she notes, those geographical boundaries could change as climatic conditions change.

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