Iguana auction within the law

A man offering iguanas for sale on the net says they are ideal pets. Picture/ Reuters

Giant lizards being auctioned over the internet could pose a danger to native wildlife say biosecurity authorities but they are powerless to act.

Baby iguanas are being offered for sale on the online trading site TradeMe by a man who says he keeps his "big, beautiful lizards" in a walk-in wardrobe and wants $5000 each for their offspring.

He says he bought the adult lizards, which can grow to 1.8m (6ft), two years ago and takes them out regularly for a stroll in the sun. They are easy to look after and make ideal pets, he says.

Department of Conservation Wildlife Enforcement Group investigator Peter Younger said authorities could prosecute anyone bringing the lizards into New Zealand illegally, but could not stop people trading them once they were here.

"There is a small population here," he said.

"That small population is starting to breed and people can sell them. At the moment there's not a lot we can do about it unfortunately."

The auction generated a fair amount of interest from potential buyers, at least one asking whether keeping iguanas as domestic pets was legal.

The seller replied the reptiles were brought to New Zealand under permit in the 1980s and he bought them for $20,000 two years ago.

At least one potential buyer was offering $8000 for two but it's not known whether the reptiles sold.

Mr Younger said blue tongue lizards were regularly on sale through pet shops in Auckland as were bearded dragons, which sold for between $1800 and $2000. "As long as they are in captivity there is no great harm done but the danger is they will be liberated or escape and predate native reptiles in the wild."