Wildlife
Extreme canivores, water monitors will eat just about any other animal and escaping one is no mean feat. Powerful leg muscles bestow a quick turn of speed for their size. Aquatic prey fare no better, as water monitors can pursue them underwater for 30 minutes or more. When the hunter becomes the hunted, water monitors will skillfully climb trees to escape, jumping from branch to branch, until they reach the safety of water. In fact, this common south Asian monitor lizard relies on water and is capable of crossing large bodies.
Scientific name: Varanus salvator
Rank: Species
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Cuckoo reptile
A monitor lizard lays its own eggs in a bird's nest, after eating the resident's clutch.
A monitor lizard lays its own eggs in a bird's nest, after eating the resident's clutch.
Taste test
Steve Backshall gets alarmingly close to the dangerous end of a water monitor.
Steve Backshall gets alarmingly close to the dangerous end of a water monitor.
The Water monitor can be found in a number of locations including: Asia, China, Indian subcontinent. Find out more about these places and what else lives there.
The following habitats are found across the Water monitor distribution range. Find out more about these environments, what it takes to live there and what else inhabits them.
Discover what these behaviours are and how different plants and animals use them.
Additional data source: Animal Diversity Web
The water monitor (Varanus salvator) is a large lizard native to Southern Asia. Water monitors are one of the most common monitor lizards found throughout Asia, and range from Sri Lanka, India, Indochina, the Malay Peninsula and various islands of Indonesia, living in areas close to water.
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Predation defence
Adapted to swimming
Carnivorous
Burrower
Egg layer
Predator
Adapted to running
Scavenger
Chemical communication