Endangered monitor lizard released in Margalla Hills

Islamabad : The Islamabad Wildlife Management Board (IWMB) has successfully released a Bengal Monitor lizard into the forest area that has recently been rescued from the people who were trying to kill it.

According to the details, when local people spotted this lizard they felt scared and wrongly thought it could harm them. Then they tried to kill it but the staffers of the IWMB timely reached the spot and shifted it to a temporary shelter.

It merits mentioning here that Bengal Monitor Lizards usually hibernate in the winter season and show up in summer as insect population is increased in the prevailing period. This large lizard is mainly terrestrial and its length can range from 61 centimetre to 175 centimetre from the tip of the snout to the end of the tail. It is recognized as one of the vital components of the ecosystem as it controls the spread of insects and even protects plant species from them. It never poses any kind of threat to human beings and largely restricts itself in the forest areas.

Farrukh Mughal, a wildlife observer, said that there are four kinds of lizards in this region including the Bengal monitor, the two-banded monitor, the desert monitor, and the yellow monitor lizard and all of them are severely endangered species.

He said unfortunately their meat and eggs are eaten and their body parts used for all sorts of fake remedies.

“These lizards are hunted down, their spines or legs broken and they are then thrown into sacks and taken to villages and cities where they are kept alive in dreadful pain until the trader finds a customer who buys their sweat, organs, fat, or bones for medicines,” he said.