Population assessment of a novel island invasive: tegu (Salvator merianae) of Fernando de Noronha

Fernando de Noronha is an oceanic archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, 345 km off shore from the Brazilian coast. It comprises 21 islands and islets, of which the main island (FN) is 17 km2 with a rapidly growing tourism industry in the last decades. Despite being a protected area and bearing Ramsar and UNESCO World Heritage site status, it is threatened by multiple terrestrial invasive species since its colonisation in the early 16th century. Invasive species and the increasing tourism contributes to a list of at least 15 endangered or critically endangered species according to IUCN criteria. The black and white tegu (Salvator merianae) is the largest lizard in South America, occurring in most of the