The Savannah Monitor (Varanus exanthematicus) is a medium-sized African lizard, living in East Africa, southern Africa, and some areas of West Africa. It is a reptile.
The Savannah Monitor Lizard has a blackish or dark grey body, with five or six rows of yellow blotches, but there can be other colour variations. It has a broad, bulbous snout and a rounded tail. It has short legs.
Savannah Monitor Lizard
It can grow to 130 centimetres (52 inches) long.
It prefers grasslands and woodlands as well as rocky areas in semi-deserts. It lives away from permanent water holes.
It feeds on baby tortoises, birds, eggs, snails, beetles, and grasshoppers.
Females use a termite mound or moist soil as a nest. She lays 8-36 eggs, which hatch a year later.
Savannah Monitor Lizard
Savannah Monitor Lizard
Savannah Monitor Lizard
Savannah Monitor Lizard
Photographer: Martina Nicolls
Martina Nicolls: SIMILAR BUT DIFFERENT IN THE ANIMAL KINGDOM