Rainforest monitor lizard

Rainforest monitor lizard

Ingrid Försch has taken over the sponsorship of the rainforest Nile monitor(Varanus ornatus).

The rainforest Nile monitor (Varanus ornatus) was originally described as a geographical subspecies of the Nile monitor(Varanus niloticus), which is widespread in tropical Africa. It was not until 1997 that the herpetologists at the ZFMK succeeded in proving that the much more robust relative from the rainforest does not mix with its somewhat more slender relative from the savannah where it encounters it at the edge of the forest, and that it therefore has the status of a separate species.
The animals like to rest on branches that protrude over jungle rivers so that they can plunge into the water immediately in case of danger. Their muscular, laterally flattened tail helps them to swim. In keeping with its habitat close to the shore, this monitor lizard, more recently also known in German as the "Schmuckwaran",
feeds mainly on crabs, snails and mussels, which it can crack open very easily with its strongly flattened rear teeth. It is often offered and sold for consumption by the local population of the African rainforests as so-called "bushmeat".