And so the slippery slope begins to slide

[The Golem]

Nothing is safe at all. Seriously, not even ball pythons or anything else. I'm not surprised they're going after the Nile monitor. They make it seem like they're terrorizing the state etc. No. They are not. There is not a stable population of them. They also have the same diet as alligators. Oh, and Nile monitors are smaller.

Also 20 lizards to thousands is a very big leap. And that'a because it's simply untrue

The actual article is much less sensationalistic.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/pa...410-story.html

"We have found that the population hasn't spread very far from the C-51 Canal, and if we increase the pressure, we might be able to eradicate them," said Jenny Ketterlin Eckles, non-native wildlife biologist for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
...

Although not dangerous to people unless harassed, they eat a wide range of wildlife, including small mammals, reptiles and fish. They are considered a threat to burrowing owls, including eggs, chicks and adults.
The lizards have been known to consume domestic cats in their habitat in Africa. In Cape Coral, site of the largest Nile monitor population in Florida, there have been unconfirmed reports of monitors killing pets.
...
The Nile monitors in Palm Beach County live along a roughly 12-mile stretch of canals and adjacent waterways, running from Interstate 95 and Southern Boulevard west to the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge. In the last five years, 42 have been removed from that area.