00:00In eastern Taiwan, this unexpected guest is in the entirely wrong postal code.
00:06It's an Amazon lava lizard, and it baffled locals who spotted it slinking around a stone-cutting factory in Hualien,
00:14far from its native habitat in South America.
00:31Conservationists are now asking how a reptile native to another continent got into Taiwan and whether it's breeding.
01:01Taiwan already faces challenges from other invasive reptiles.
01:06Broughten as pets in the early 2000s, populations of green iguanas, also native to South America,
01:12have exploded in the sunny south of Taiwan, where they devastate crops and compete with native wildlife.
01:19That's why authorities are taking the Amazon lava lizards seriously.
01:37The Amazon lava lizard is not a protected species, and it is not clear whether they carry infectious diseases.
01:44Still, authorities are urging the public to report sightings immediately
01:47and help them stamp out any potential invasion before it begins.
01:52Chris Ma and Sanichi for Taiwan Plus.
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