A seven-foot iguana sunning itself on the bank of a creek on Taveuni escaped before a pearl farmer could kill it for the pot.
Claude Michael Trevost spotted the iguana at Vurevure Creek on Taveuni at 1.30pm on Wednesaday on his way to work.
Mr Trevost, who owns the nearby Sereniwai Estate, alerted agriculture officials on the island who arrived the same afternoon.
"The iguana was sunning itself on the river bank near the docking station for our boat," he said. Iguanas in Fiji normally grow up to a metre or a metre-and-a-half-long.
"I wasn't scared or worried about being bitten because I've encountered it before in Central America.
"But the villagers refused to come near even when I asked them to bring dalo (taro) sacks so that we could capture it and eat it.
"They were worried about being bitten but I told them it wouldn't do that because it is a herbivore and feeds on dilo leaves. It will only scratch if it is threatened.
"It kept scared villagers worried about being bitten more than 20 feet away."
Mr Trevost said he wasn't surprised to find it. "Qamea, where it originally came from, is only a half-a-mile swim across the channel and the iguanas are pretty good swimmers," he said.
"We waded into the river and took pictures from 20 feet, then 10 feet and eight feet. I had only one villager with me and the agriculture officials."
As the group waded closer, Mr Trevost said the sunbathing iguana spotted them and dived into the river.
Mr Trevost suspected the iguana was feeding in a nearby marsh of baby dilo trees.
Agriculture permanent secretary Colonel Mason Smith later confirmed it was an adult green iguana, only more red than green.
Col. Smith said the eradication of green iguanas, which have been affecting the island environment, would begin around August when the weather becomes warmer.
"The baby ones are the ones we've captured and have been spotting," he said.
"This is the biggest one that has been spotted so far."
Fiji is the only place in the world where banded iguanas are found.
