The ultimate reptile explorer — tough, adaptable, and surprisingly clever. Found across the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, this large lizard can grow up to 5 feet (1.5 meters) long, with a strong body, a powerful tail, and sharp claws built for climbing, digging, and sprinting. Its skin is usually dusty brown or grey, covered in tiny scales that help it blend perfectly into forests, grasslands, farms, and even city outskirts. Despite their serious, dragon-like looks, Bengal monitors are usually shy and prefer running or hiding over picking a fight.

One of the coolest things about Bengal monitors is their incredible adaptability. These lizards can thrive in all kinds of environments — dry deserts, lush forests, rocky hillsides, or even agricultural fields. They’re expert foragers, eating almost anything they can catch: insects, small mammals, birds, eggs, other reptiles, and even carrion if they find it. With their long forked tongues, they “taste” the air like snakes do, using a special sense organ to track down prey or sniff out something tasty.

Bengal monitors are also surprisingly good climbers and swimmers. They can scale trees to escape predators or to hunt for eggs and nesting birds, and if they get too hot or threatened, they’ll dive into water and swim with ease. Their tails act like powerful rudders, and their strong legs push them quickly through ponds or rivers. When cornered, though, they can defend themselves with quick bites, powerful tail whips, and loud hissing — but they’d much rather avoid confrontation if they can.

Distribution

Country

Population est.

Status

Year

Comments

Afghanistan

2018

Bangladesh

2018

Cambodia

2018

China

2018

Yunnan

India

2018

Indonesia

2018

Iran

2018

Laos

2018

Malaysia

2018

Myanmar

2018

Nepal

2018

Pakistan

2018

Sri Lanka

2018

Thailand

2018

Vietnam

2018