A foot-long rhinoceros iguana was spotted and captured at a Walmart in Florida
Shoppers at a large American supermarket were recently shocked to see an unusual sight - a massive rhinoceros iguana wandering around the store. Stunned shoppers reported spotting the foot-long rhino iguana at a Walmart in Miami, Florida on Thursday evening. A Walmart employee called the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Venom 1 Unit to remove the potentially dangerous lizard. The Venom 1 unit routinely handles such distress calls in South Florida.
According to
NBC Miami, the lizard was found at the front of the store, near some shopping carts. "When Venom 1 unit arrived they spotted a spiny lizard standing near some shopping carts," Erika Benitez of
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue tells
Miami Patch. "Several store patrons had spotted the lizard walking around and they became concerned." It was safely captured by Lt. Lisa Wood.
Take a look at the rhino iguana moments before it was captured here:
Officials suspect the rhino iguana may have been pregnant. "It might have been a situation where she was looking for a place to lay eggs," explains Miami-Dade County Fire Rescue's Lt. Felipe Lay. "It was probably nesting."
The iguana has been turned over to proper authorities for care and, according to officials, will be released into the wild.
Rhino iguanas are known to be popular pets.
Reptiles Magazine calls the rhino iguana "one of the world's most magnificent iguanas."
"The disposition of this species can vary considerably," the magazine says. "Some rhinoceros iguanas become extremely tame, while others can be extremely aggressive and inflict bites."
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