Nile Monitor Lizards found in Uganda.
The Nile River Monitor Lizards are found almost anywhere in Uganda.
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 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 banks of the Nile at Murchison Falls National Park or the Kazinga Channel in Queen Elizabeth National Park.
No, it is not a crocodile but a Nile Monitor Lizard, which can be seen in much of Africa, including in Uganda.
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.
They are also excellent climbers, and you will often find them in trees. Their teeth are very sharp and pointed- they
also have sharp claws they use for climbing, digging, defense, and hunting, tearing their prey. They have a forked tongue and tremendous olfactory properties. Their lifespan is about 20 years.
The Nile Monitor Lizards have tough and beady skin – adults have greyish skin with yellow spots 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 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 Lizard has a ferocious appetite for consuming crocodile eggs, insects, fish, and other aquatic creatures such as frogs, snails, small snakes, birds, and some mammals and carrion.
Baby Lizards have become a hot item in the west. They are often shipped illegally, then released in states 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.
Questions about the Nile Monitor Lizards found in Uganda – please contact us.
