Fine Dining May Solve Puerto Rico’s Invasive Iguana Problem

Puerto Rico is overrun with dark-green iguanas , and they ’re wreaking mayhem on the island ’s ecosystem and its economy .

Green iguanas are native to Central and South America , but on the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico , they ’re an invasive species . With no instinctive predators on the island , their numbers have skyrocketed in recent old age , which presents Puerto Rican farmers with a problem : the lizards keep eating their crop . How unsound is it ? huntsman found 110 iguanas on a single acre of plowland in Puerto Rico .

That ’s why some people in Puerto Rico have suggested a creative solution : deal iguana meat as a delicacy .

Iguanas are a rough-cut part of local diets in many primal and South American country , and iguana meat sells for about $ 6 a pound in the U.S. , where it ’s legal to deal as long as it has been processed in an FDA - approved installation . Much of the iguana meat sell in the U.S. , in fact , is from Puerto Rico — where , ironically , the territory ’s wellness section still has n’t okay it for sale .

That ’s mostly because of business about salmonella , which common iguana proponents say can be prevented with sufficient regulation . Puerto Rican refinement is also more loth to eating reptile than the primal and South American land where common iguana are a native species , although some militant are trying to modify that by promoting iguana as a food .

It seems to be gaining a bridgehead in the U.S. , at least , harmonize tothis TV from National Geographic .

Starship Test 9

What is it like to eat iguana ? It ’s a thin , gamy - protein gist , and chefs say it smell out like fish , feels like crybaby , and looks like red meat , and some diner say it tastes a bit like porc .

[ National Geographic ]

Top image : Christian Mehlführer via Wikimedia Commons

Lilo And Stitch 2025