Archives of The Cold Blooded News

The Newsletter of the Colorado Herpetological Society

Volume 31, Number 2;   February, 2004

Florida Scientists Seek to Trap Giant Lizards

Cape Coral has become a haven for Nile monitor lizards, and their population in the Gulf Coast city has possibly reached the thousands, said Todd Campbell, a University of Tampa assistant professor of biology who has started a project to monitor the monitors. Options being studied include relocating or killing the animals.

The first official report of a monitor lizard in Cape Coral was in 1990. Since then, Cape Coral has received 145 reports.

Nile monitor lizards, which can easily grow to 5 feet, might have become established in Cape Coral in one of two ways, Campbell said. Some may have been released into the wild after being kept as pets, or the roaming lizards might all be descendants of a single pregnant female who was released.

Campbell and his assistants, working with state and federal grants, are trying to learn whether monitor lizards have become a . threat to native species. The animals can hunt prey in the water, in trees and even underground.

"They likely eat anything they can fit in their mouths," said Gregg Klowden, a University of Florida biologist working on the project. "In my opinion, burrowing owls are like popcorn snacks for them."

In Africa, the lizards eat crocodile eggs, fish, mussels, and snails. "They certainly wouldn't have any problem with baby alligators," Campbell said, adding: "These things eat oysters, so to crunch a gopher tortoise shell would be nothing. They probably eat armadillos, foxes, ground doves, reptiles, amphibians. There's one story of a lady finding a hatchling monitor eating goldfish out of her pond."