The Chiayi County Government is offering a bounty for catching brown anoles — a lizard species native to Cuba and the Bahamas — in an effort to protect the local ecology, promising NT$3 for each lizard caught and delivered by county residents.
The county’s department of agriculture said that Shueishang Township’s (水上) Sanjiepu District (三界埔) has been affected by the brown anole lizard since 2010, adding that the rapid increase in the lizards has harmed the ecological balance in the area as well as encroached on the habitats of the native Japalura swinhonis lizard.
The county government has asked for NT$390,000 to help fund the bounty. It estimates that the project could help rid the county of 10,000 brown anoles.
Photo: Yu Tai-lang, Taipei Times
The project would start next week from 10am to noon on Friday and continue through the end of November, the county government said.
Participants should gather at Shueishang Township’s Sanjiepu District and bring their identity cards as well as a personal stamp, the county government said, adding that for every lizard caught the participants would get one point.
After the event ends, the county government is to count the points earned and hand out the prize money accordingly, the county government said.
It said that the project would not only help preserve the local ecology, but also help residents earn some extra cash.
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