Malayan Water Monitor

Malayan Water Monitor (Varanus salvator) is a large grayish lizard, which grows up to seven to nine feet in length. It has long, sharp, backwardly curved teeth, a long whip-like tail, and a very long neck with an elongated snout and nostrils close to the end of its nose. It has a forked tongue like a snake's, which is used as an olfactory organ to track down carrion and small animals.

The lizard is not just a scavenger for it actively hunts and eats birds, reptiles, fish, crabs, frogs, lizards and snakes. It is similar in appearance to a crocodile but has a shorter snout and more rounded body. Males are larger than females.

Breeding season is from April to October. Female monitors lay 7 to 35 leathery eggs under tree roots or in termite mounds.