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March 2016. An adult green iguana was caught in Palau about 9 years ago. It was apparently a pet. There is need to be vigilant as this is an invasive animal.
A member mentioned that monitor lizards were introduced to some of the Micronesian islands by the Japanese to control rats.
Unfortunately, they not only hunt rats but also crabs, birds, eggs, chickens and other animals. However, it was said that monitor lizards and iguanas were entirely different animals, and it was noted that iguanas have done much damage in the Caribbean islands.
Guam had a similar experience with an iguana caught 2 years ago, which was also likely to have been a former (escaped) pet. No others were found, but in Fiji iguanas have established on several islands and there is concern about their potential impact.
Although there are laws about introducing such animals as pests, the problems is that they are only as good as the inspection service. In Pohnpei, for instance, there are hundreds of fishing vessels from Asian countries and it is difficult to inspect the ships adequately.
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