Nile Monitor

Common Name: Nile Monitor

Scientific Name: Varanus niloticus

Diet: They feed on fish, snails, frogs, crocodile eggs and young, snakes, birds, small mammals, insects, and carrion.

Overview: The Nile monitor is Africa's longest lizard. They grow from about 120 to 220 cm  in length, with the largest specimens attaining 244 cm.

Reproduction: Nile monitors are a polygynandrous species and will mate promiscuously. They prefer to lay eggs in termite mounds, the female tears open the nest, particularly in the rainy season when the walls are soft, and deposits up to 60 eggs without attempting to cover them.

Natural Enemies: Crocodiles and pythons are major predators of adults. Other potential predators are leopards, eagles and humans.

Conservation Status and Threats: Nile monitors are native to Sub-Saharan Africa and along the Nile. They are not found in any of the desert regions of Africa (notably Sahara, Kalahari and much of the Horn of Africa), however, as they thrive around rivers.