Elusive Five-Foot Lizard Captured In Key Largo

KEY LARGO (CBSMiami/AP) — A large invasive Asian water monitor that had been running loose in the Florida Keys has been captured.

Florida Fish and Wildlife officials posted pictures on Facebook with this caption: "Elusive lizard captured!"
The lizard was more than 5 feet long and weighed 20 pounds.

Staff and volunteers set traps and searched high and low to remove this nonnative reptile for over a year.

Once it was caught, the lizard was removed from the wild. Wildlife officials say this helps prevent the establishment of a new nonnative species.

Wildlife officers advise people to snap pictures if they see nonnative wildlife and report it to the agency.