Bengal Monitor (Varanus bengalensis) | Feeding, Breeding, Behaviour and Distribution | Reptiles | [URDU] from breeding programmes for endangered Watch Video

⏲ Duration: 6:15
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✓ Published: 03-May-2024

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#BengalMonitor<br/>#Reptiles<br/>#WildlifeofPakistan<br/>#AhmadNetix<br/><br/>Today we will talk about a lizard, the Bengal Monitor that is also called the Common Indian Monitor.<br/>This monitor lizard distributed widely in the Indian Subcontinent, as well as parts of Southeast Asia and West Asia.<br/>This large lizard is mainly a terrestrial animal.<br/>Its length ranges from about 61 to 175 centimeters or 24 to 69 inches from the tip of the snout to the end of the tail.<br/>Young monitors may be arboreal but adults mainly hunt on the ground, preying mainly on arthropods but also taking small terrestrial vertebrates, ground birds, eggs and fish.<br/>The species is found in river valleys in eastern Iran, Afghanistan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Burma.<br/>They are often found in agricultural areas.<br/>Bengal monitors are solitary and found on the ground, although the young are often seen on trees.<br/>Bengal monitors shelter in burrows they dig or crevices in rocks and buildings.<br/>Bengal monitors are diurnal like other monitors, becoming active around 6 AM and bask in the morning sun.<br/>During winter, they may take shelter and go through a period of reduced metabolic activity.<br/>They are not territorial and may change their range seasonally in response to food availability.<br/>They are usually shy and avoid humans.<br/>They have keen eyesight and can detect human movement nearly 250 m away.<br/>When caught, a few individuals may bite, but rarely do so.<br/>Although they are found on agricultural land, but they prefer forests with large trees.<br/>Captives have been known to live for nearly 22 years.<br/>Predators of adults include pythons, mammalian predators and birds.<br/>The main breeding season is June to September, but males begin to show combat behaviour by April.<br/>Females dig a nest hole in level ground or a vertical bank and lay the eggs inside, filling it up and using their snouts to compact the soil.<br/>They sometimes make use of a termite mound to nest.<br/>A single clutch of about 20 eggs is laid.<br/>The eggs hatch in 168 to nearly as long as 254 days.<br/>About 40 to 80 % of the eggs may hatch.<br/>They are capable of rapid movement on the ground.<br/>Small individuals may climb trees to escape, but larger ones prefer to escape on the ground.<br/>They sometimes stand on the hind legs to get a better view or when males fight other males.<br/>They can also swim well and can stay submerged for at least 17 minutes.<br/>They can use both trees and bushes for shelter.<br/>Bengal monitors tend to remain active the whole day.<br/>Large adults may ascend vertical tree trunks, where they sometimes stalk and capture roosting bats.<br/>The species is a generalist and feeds on a varied diet of invertebrates and vertebrates.<br/>Invertebrate prey mostly consists of beetles and their larvae also maggots, caterpillars, centipedes, scorpions, crabs, crayfish, snails, termites, ants, and earwigs.<br/>Larger individuals in addition to invertebrates also eat a large amount of vertebrate prey, including toads and frogs and their eggs, fish, lizards, snakes, etc.