A nearly four-foot-long monitor lizard was rescued by Wildlife SOS from the National Technical Research Organisation premises in Aya Nagar here late on Wednesday. The reptile has sustained an eye injury and is undergoing treatment.
A call on the NGO’s 24-hour helpline (9871963535) alerted Wildlife SOS to the presence of a monitor lizard outside the staff accommodation block on organisation’s campus.
The reptile was in distress and unable to open its eyes. The NGO promptly dispatched two trained rescuers to the location.
Monitor lizards are mostly non-aggressive but can bite or even use their claws in retaliation if threatened or provoked. Therefore, the team had to be cautious while carrying out the rescue operation.
Wildlife SOS special projects manager Wasim Akram said: “The monitor lizard is currently undergoing treatment for its eye injury. We are monitoring its condition closely.”
Wildlife SOS co-founder Kartick Satyanarayan noted that it was reassuring to see people adopting a more sensitised approach towards the reptile population in the city.
“Monitor lizards are non-venomous and pose no threat to humans. As a result of continuous deforestation and expansion of human habitation, these largely misunderstood reptiles are often forced to wander out of their natural habitats in search of food and shelter. They play an important role in the ecosystem but they are often killed for meat and body parts due to wrong beliefs,” he said.
