The Giant Lizards of Lumpani

I’m blogging some of my actual herping adventures in Bangkok, to add to the technical material on the site and perhaps inspire some people to enjoy Bangkok’s wildlife the same way I have. I’ll start with a little introduction to the giants that all Bangkok residents know well – the Water Monitor.

Just about everyone has seen water monitors somewhere in Bangkok, but they are most famously known from Bangkok’s central park, Lumpani Park. I don’t think that I’ve ever gone to Lumpani Park without seeing monitors there. But there was one day that was a little special.

I had been walking through the park, photographing the herps, when I saw this large monitor in one of the canals:

I just kept making my way down the canal, and soon realized that he was doing the same. I got to the end of the canal and the exercise equipment the same time that the monitor did, and was able to photograph it crawling out of the water.

Soon it was weaving its way through the exercisers. At first it they seemed irrelevant, just more travelers on the day.

But soon the crowd got a little bigger, and became a mix of interested onlookers snapping photos and frightened folk trying to get out of the way as quick as possible.

The big water monitor, just trying to get where it was going, walked through all the traffic…

…made its way over to the next section of canal…

…and swam off into the sunset!

Monitors generally focus on dead animals, snails, crabs, and other small creatures, and aren’t interested in going after people at all. That being said, they will use their tail, claws, or teeth if they are threatened, and it’s a good idea to leave them alone.

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