Monitor Lizard

Zone:
Motobo Hills

Diet:
Carnivore

Taxa:
Reptile

Conservation Status:
Near Threatened

The White-throated Monitor is a Lizard found in southern Africa and its ivory-coloured throat is what distinguishes it from other Monitor Lizards.  They are usually gray-brown with yellowish or white markings and can reach up to 2 meters in length.

It is found in Southern Africa, northwards to Angola, Zambia and Mozambique.

Creature Feature: Illegal Pet Trade

Our Monitor Lizards have been on the BBC's The One Show as part of a feature highlighting the work of the Specialist Animal Rehoming Unit at Heathrow Airport which looks to re-home animals seized as they are brought illegally into the country for sale in the pet trade.  They were being smuggled into the UK from Tanzania folded more than double in small suitcases.  When they arrived in the UK they were so weak they could barely support their own body weight.  We can report they are now thriving and enjoying their purpose-built enclosure in the Giraffe House.