The Nile Monitor Lizard found in uganda Scientifically known as Varanus niloticus, this is the largest lizard in Uganda, capable of growing more than 2 meters in length. It is one of the key predators and scavengers in most Uganda’s ecosystems, hence a reptile worth finding and appreciating.
The Nile Monitor Lizards found in Uganda are Africa’s giant lizards and one of Africa’s most voracious predators. The monitor lizards are stout in the body powerful has an elongated head like a snake, and very sharp claws, and there is the long and compressed tail that the Nile Monitor Lizard uses if threatened.
The Nile Monitor Lizards are found almost anywhere in Uganda. They can be found almost anywhere in Uganda from the source of the Nile to Murchison falls National Park. In Uganda, you will find both in Savannah and Water monitor lizards.
You will see this giant Lizard that can grow to 7 or 8 feet in length (over 2 meters) in many places in Uganda except Kidepo Valley Park Seen from a distance, you might think it is a small crocodile, especially on the Nile at Murchison Falls National Park or on the Kazinga channel in Queen Elizabeth National Park.
They are also excellent climbers and you will often in trees. Their teeth are very sharp and pointed- they also have sharp claws use for climbing, digging, defense and hunting tearing their prey. They have a forked tongue and tremendous olfactory properties.
The Nile Monitor Lizard can run faster than most people over a short distance. It can stay underwater for more than one hour. The female Lizard lays her eggs in an active Termite mound where the heat of the termites assists in incubating the Monitor Lizard Eggs.
The Nile Monitor Lizards have tough and beady skin- adults have grayish skin with yellow sport in a band like fashion down the head, body and tail. Juveniles have a more vibrant pattern with dark and black skin, bright yellow spots and some blotches.
The Nile Monitor Lizard has a ferocious appetite for consuming crocodile eggs, insects, fish and other aquatic creatures such as frogs, snails, birds, snakes and some mammals and carrion.
Body Lizards have become a hot item in the west. West are offer shipped illegally, then released in state such as Florida since the owners do not know what to do with an 8- foot Lizard- I prefer to see them in the wild of Uganda – they are harmless for the most part and on a safari in Uganda you will see a few of them.
Female Nile monitors can lay up to 60 eggs and will lay them in a live termite mound. The termites will repair the damage and the eggs can then incubate in warm humid conditions. Female Nile monitors will come back to the nest when the babies begin to hatch and will help them.
Most of the monitor lizards have a life span of 20 years while the Komodo dragon takes nine years to mature fully. They live up to 30 long years. Smaller species of monitor lizards tend to live more than larger species of monitor lizards.
