Black Tree Monitor

ANIMAL:
Black Tree Monitor Varanus beccarii

Type of Animal:
Monitor

Habitat:
Forests, mangroves/mangrove swamps, cocoa plantations

Location(s):
Aru Islands

Appearance:
Adults completely black & slender w/ long tails, small heads, & long necks, hatchlings/juveniles dark gray w/ regular rows of bright yellow-green dots, males larger than females, males have broader tails while females have rounder tails

Food/Diet:
Insects, insect larvae, other lizards, eggs, shrews, rodents, scorpions, birds, fish, snakes, shrimp, crabs, frogs, spiders, centipedes, worms

Status in Wild:
Stable

Conservation:
Breeding in zoos, wildlife centers, herpetoculture, & aquariums

Lifestyle:
Solitary or small groups of a male w/ 1-3 females

Additional Info:

Called:
Male
Female
Young: Hatchling
Group: Colony
 
Weight:
Male: 7.54 oz
Young: 7.41 oz
 
Gestation:
23 weeks 

Life Span:
10-15 years

Body Length:
Male: 3.5 ft
Female: 3 ft
Young: 1 ft

Tail Length:
Male: 2.1-2.45 ft
Female: 1.8-2.1 ft
Young: 0.6-0.7 ft

Main predators are snakes, larger lizards, predatory birds, & carnivorous/omnivorous mammals.
 
These lizards highly arboreal.
 
Use long claws & long prehensile tail to grip branches.
 
Sexually mature at a year old.
 
Active during the day (diurnal).
 
Like other monitors, use forked tongue to sense surroundings.
 
Often use chemical cues to search out prey/mates.
 
Also called Beccari’s Monitor after Italian explorer Odoardo Beccari & Aru Island Monitor.
 
Females breed twice a year, having clutches of 2-6 eggs.
 
When it can’t use jaws to reach prey in tight spaces, they’ll extract by reaching w/ forelimb & using claws to hook it out.
 
They’re very shy & secretive in the wild.
 
Courtship often involves male chasing female.
 
Prehensile tail often serves as 5th limb.

Fun Fact(s):
Locally known as Waweyaro & people in Aru Islands don’t eat them.
 
Females usually lay eggs in arboreal termite nests. Hatchlings eat termites/termite eggs within minutes of hatching.
 
Like many monitors, they’re rather intelligent.
 
Though sometimes kept as pets, they’re more of a look but don’t touch kind of pet. They prefer not being handled & are very nervous & high-strung animals.
 
1st mode of defense is to flee but if that doesn’t work, they may bite/scratch/poop on threat.

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