Florida wildlife officials euthanized more than 5,000 invasive iguanas when the frozen reptiles fell from trees earlier this month.

Thanks to a temporary executive order issued by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), people were allowed to remove cold-stunned green iguanas from the wild without a permit during early February’s cold snap.

According to USA Today, Executive Order 26-03, issued Jan. 30, gave permission for members of the public to collect cold-stunned green iguanas and transport them to FWC offices on Sunday, Feb. 1, and Monday, Feb. 2.

The Guardian reports that 5,195 iguanas were dropped off to the collection center.

An invasive and prohibited species in Florida, green iguanas normally may not be possessed without a permit. The iguanas negatively affect the native ecosystem due to their voracious appetite for native plants and flowers.

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FWC staff accepted the iguanas at five locations in the South and Southwest regions at the offices in Marathon, Sunrise, Tequesta, Fort Myers, and Lakeland.

The Iguanas were allowed to be collected by property owners or with landowner permission, including on certain commission-managed land. The public was urged to use caution and instructed to place iguanas in secure, breathable cloth bags, then into a second locked container labeled “Prohibited Reptiles.”

FWC urged the public to immediately transport the iguanas to reduce the chance they would recover and escape.

The public is allowed to humanely kill the reptiles on their own property or on other properties with permission, but it’s illegal to transport or own them without a license.

Iguanas are cold-blooded tropical reptiles, so when temperatures fall into the 30s and 40s, they get stunned and freeze up. As temperatures warm, they thaw out and recover.