It is the second heaviest lizard in the world after the Komodo dragon.
From Common Water Monitor
It is very tolerant of people, and common in canals and city parks.
From Common Water Monitor
Its skin is widely traded for the fashion industry.
From Common Water Monitor
Its teeth are blunt and flattened rather than sharp, adapted to crushing the shells of beetles, snails and millipedes instead of tearing flesh, a clear case of specialisation within a group of generalist predators.
From Savanna Monitor
It is one of the most heavily exported reptiles on the planet: hundreds of thousands of animals leave Ghana, Togo and Benin each year for the pet trade, most of them caught in the wild.
From Savanna Monitor
It aestivates through the dry season: it buries itself in a burrow and lowers its metabolism until the rains return, going months without eating.
From Savanna Monitor
It often lays its eggs inside occupied termite mounds, which the termites then repair, providing a natural incubator at steady temperature and humidity.
From Nile Monitor
It eats crabs and insects (50-70% of its diet), supplemented with small vertebrates, eggs and carrion.
From Nile Monitor

Ecosystems