Large Water Monitor Flees Into Suburban Pretoria Pool
PRETORIA – Residents of a house in Villeria got a surprise visitor in their back yard this week, when a 1.5-metre, 4.5-kilogram water monitor that had possibly escaped capture took refuge in their pool before the zoo came to rescue the reptile. The monitor was first discovered behind the family’s rubbish bin before it scurried into the pool, the […]
PRETORIA – Residents of a house in Villeria got a surprise visitor in their back yard this week, when a 1.5-metre, 4.5-kilogram water monitor that had possibly escaped capture took refuge in their pool before the zoo came to rescue the reptile.
The monitor was first discovered behind the family’s rubbish bin before it scurried into the pool, the National Zoological Gardens of South Africa said on its Facebook page. When the zoo officials were called in, they found a noose around the reptile’s neck that had already caused some scarring and had damaged its hyoid bone in the throat area.
“Upon arrival at the zoo it was taken to the NZG’s animal hospital for treatment and has now been transferred to its reptile park quarantine facility,” the zoo said.
The rope around the reptile’s neck suggested it had been kept as a pet or in captivity, which is against the law.
“It is also illegal to keep one as a pet as they are indigenous in South Africa; no indigenous animals may be kept as pets in this country,” the NZG said.
According to the Pretoria Zoo, water or Nile monitors occur naturally in Pretoria, especially along streams and rivers. The zoo said, “It is envisaged that the lizard will be released after its recovery at the NZG.”