Huge invasive Asian monitor lizard that eats cats and dogs is filmed running across Florida road by frightened onlookers
A mother-daughter duo was stopped while driving in Florida after spotting a nearly 6-foot-long Asian monitor lizard on the side of the road.
Renee Aland and Zoey Marzonie were driving along Hillsborough Boulevard near Bamboo Drive when they spotted the “crocodile-like” creature.
“So my mom said, ‘I’m going to turn around,’” Marzonie said.
“I look and I see what I think is an alligator. As we got closer, I looked and saw his tongue, the lizard tongue, coming out, and I thought, ‘Oh crap, that’s not an alligator,'” Aland said, laughing. NBC2.
‘It looked like a big lizard, and I’ve seen something like that before. Have you heard of the show Jessie for Disney Channel? It looked like that big lizard in Jessie.”
Renee Aland and Zoey Marzonie were driving along Hillsborough Boulevard near Bamboo Drive when they spotted the ‘Gator-like’ creature
‘It was just a walk. It was huge, at least three to five feet. It was pretty crazy. I wanted to get out and get closer, I was like, “What is that?” I wanted to see it, but she said, ‘No, stay in the car,'” Marzonie recalled.
After Aland sent videos of the lizard to the Florida Wildlife Commission, the agency confirmed that the animal was a non-native Asian water monitor lizard and was estimated to be five feet long.
“Monitor lizards are considered high priority species for the FWC’s Nonnative Fish and Wildlife Program,” the agency said.
‘Our biologists are still collecting information on sightings of this animal to determine possible response efforts and will continue to monitor. We encourage people to report sightings to our Invasive Species Hotline at 888-IVE-GOT1 (483-4681), via the IVEGOT1 app or online at IveGot1.org,” the FWC added.
According to the deskNile monitors are olive green to black in color and have cream or yellow stripes on the jaw and head.
Nile monitors are olive green to black in color and have cream or yellow stripes on the jaw and head
Known as generalist feeders, they hunt prey on the surface, underground, in trees, and in fresh and salt water.
In addition to crabs, frogs, turtles, snakes and young crocodiles, the monitor lizard also preys on domestic cats and dogs.
Despite not being native to the state, South Florida’s extensive canal system has long functioned as a dispersal corridor for the species, which tends to inhabit water edges.
Researchers believe that Florida’s Nile monitor populations arise from the intentional and accidental releases of captive animals.
The Nile monitor’s high reproduction rate, varied diet, and ability to travel over land and in fresh and salt water have long posed a threat to livestock such as chickens and small animals in the state.