Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation has sent a circular to every province asking officials to look for iguanas in public parks or the wild and to report back, so they can be captured to prevent them from spreading.
Iguanas, a non-native species in Thailand, have been sighted in the wild in several provinces and it is believed that they have either been released from captivity or they escaped.
The department’s director-general, Atthaphon Charoenchansa, said that iguanas have been sighted in the Phatthana Nikhom district of Lop Buri, Kham Chanod in Udon Thani and Cha-am district in Phetchaburi province.
In Pattana Nikhom, for an example, green iguanas of various sizes have been sighted more than 300 times around Phraya Dern Thong mountain. Their presence has caused concern among farmers, because they are known to have eaten crops.
Atthaphon admitted that it…
