CNA – Some residents of a Housing Board block in Bedok North Road, Singapore were shocked to see a monitor lizard wandering around their neighbourhood recently.
Photos showed the reptile at the doorstep of a flat. It was also seen at the stairwell.
“It was pretty scary,” resident Jiten Khemlani told CNA, adding that his neighbour screamed when she saw the monitor lizard outside her second-floor flat.
Jiten estimates that the creature was about 1.5 metres (m) long, describing it as looking like a “blend between a monitor lizard and an alligator”.
“My mum was pretty excited when she saw it,” he added.
The 34-year-old said he called the National Parks Board (NParks) at about noon, concerned that the monitor lizard could be dangerous. He added that the lizard moved “quite fast” when it climbed up the stairs to the third floor where he lives.
The Malayan Water Monitor lizard was removed by East Coast Town Council and handed over to NParks. It will be released back into its natural habitat, said NParks’ group director of wildlife management and outreach Dr Adrian Loo.
He added that the Malayan Water Monitor lizard is the most commonly seen monitor lizard in Singapore and can be found in some parks, forests, mangrove swamps, and man-made canals.
Jiten said he has seen monitor lizards around Bedok Reservoir, which is not far from his home at Block 428. But this is the first time he has seen the reptile at the block.
