Asian water monitor
Varanus salvator
— Where the name comes from
Salvator means “saviour”, and not even taxonomists can say for certain why Laurenti chose it in 1768: perhaps for a reputation that these animals had saved somebody by signalling danger — once again the idea of the sentinel lizard. It is the second heaviest land reptile in the world after the Komodo dragon, and it lives in cities.
— Facts
- Group
- Reptiles · Reptilia
- Order
- Squamates
- Habitat
- Mangroves, rivers, urban canals, rice fields, coastal forest
- Range
- From Sri Lanka to Indonesia and the Philippines
- Size
- 1.5–2.5 m, up to 3 m; 20–25 kg
- Diet
- Fish, crabs, birds, rodents, carrion, refuse
- Lifespan
- 15 years
— Characteristics
- 01
It swims in canals and crosses arms of sea between islands.
- 02
It escapes by climbing trees, even as an adult.
- 03
Its forked tongue lets it taste the air the way snakes do.
— What sets it apart
There are hundreds of them inside Lumphini Park in central Bangkok, and the city has made its peace with them: they are the canals’ carcass-disposal service. Every so often, when they get too numerous, the authorities move a few dozen to protected areas, with press conferences and arguments. It is one of very few large predators to have colonised a metropolis without being exterminated, and the reason is that they do a useful job and bother nobody.
