Tourists in Crete. The urgent need of managing and eradicating the invasive Italian wall lizard, Podarcis siculus, from Chania, Crete. Did you know that, besides the now well-known silver-cheeked toadfish, there are also terrestrial invaders on the island of Crete that may disrupt the natural ecological balance? How important is it to understand key aspects of these species, such as their origin, their interactions with native populations, and their impacts on local ecosystems? These are some of the questions addressed by the research project “Tourists in Crete. The urgent need of managing and eradicating the invasive Italian wall lizard, Podarcis siculus, from Chania, Crete”, implemented by the University of Crete and the Natural History Museum of Crete, with support from IUCN Save Our Species and the European Union. The Italian wall lizard is a highly adaptable invasive species, native to Italy and parts of the Adriatic region, which has now become established in many areas across Europe and the Mediterranean, as well as on other continents. Recently, a population of the species was detected in Chania, Crete, an area that forms part of the distribution range of the endemic Cretan wall lizard, Podarcis cretensis (locally known as klostidaki), which occurs...
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