Exclusive | Once believed extinct, Hong Kong’s giant lizards return to the wild ... after being imported as pets then dumped

A giant lizard thought to have become extinct in Hong Kong could be re-establishing a small population in country parks, a conservationist says.

Dr Gary Ades, head of the fauna conservation department of Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden, said common water monitors captured in country parks were occasionally handed in to the centre. The reptiles have almost certainly been released or escaped from the illegal wildlife trade, he said. However, it was highly likely they were breeding in small numbers.

“This interests us on a conservation level because the monitor is probably one of our native species that went extinct, maybe a hundred years or so ago, and so quite a few conservationists in Hong Kong would like to see it come back,” he said.

“We’re rooting for the few escapees, if they manage to survive our cool winters in Hong Kong, if they’ve got the right genetic makeup, because some … are from Malaysia and more tropical areas, and they probably don’t survive the winter. But there may be a few out there that are doing OK, and they might be the starting stock for a reintroduction of the water monitor.”

Anthony Lau, a PhD candidate at University of Hong Kong who has studied lizards for almost a decade, said the monitors were a popular pet among reptile lovers in the city. They could be bought in pet shops and owners feed them on mice, but would release them once they grew too large.

The common water monitor (Varanus salvator), is the world’s second-largest lizard after the Komodo dragon, Lau said. An adult can grow to 1.5 metres to 2 metres in length, although there is a record of one monitor in Sri Lanka growing as long as 3.21 metres.