City officials are so fed up with the iguana population in Miami Beach that one commissioner suggested that a bounty should be put on the invasive species.
The city of Miami Beach paid iguana hunters $50,000 in 2021 and is expected to quadruple its budget to $200,000 to deal with the lizards.
IGUANA BOUNTY - City leaders in Miami Beach will be quadrupling the budget for iguana remediation and looking into more solutions, but one commissioner had an idea that stood out. https://t.co/bsbiWetUVK
— WPLG Local 10 News (@WPLGLocal10) September 15, 2022
According to WPLG, Commissioner Kristen Rosen Gonzalez suggested a unique approach to the problem in the Wednesday meeting.
“I don’t know — dead or alive. But if we pay per iguana, we’re going to get more iguanas,” Rosen Gonzalez said.
“People are going to go out and hunt them for money. I think that’s a better use of our money,” she added.
Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber said the idea could work as long as it was legal.
The city will form a committee to investigate some of the solutions suggested, according to WPLG.
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