Don’t ask me what the difference is, I don’t know. I grew up knowing these as Leguaan.
The Nile Monitor (Varanus niloticus), also called Water Leguaan, or River Leguaan, is a large member of the monitor lizard family (Varanidae).
In South Africa they are commonly referred to as leguaan, from the Dutch for iguana.
Monitors can grow to about 9 ft. (2.7 m) in length. They have muscular bodies, strong legs and powerful jaws. The teeth are sharp and pointed in juvenile animals and become blunt and peg-like in adults. They also possess sharp claws used for climbing, digging, defence, or tearing at their prey. Like all monitors they have a forked tongue, with highly developed olfactory properties.
Their nostrils are placed high on the snout, indicating that these animals are highly aquatic, but are also excellent climbers and quick runners on land. Monitors feed on fish, snails, frogs, crocodile eggs and young, snakes, birds, small mammals, large insects, and carrion.
Which ever member of the Varanidae family this is, I don’t know, what I do know it’s a leguaan…
A little one… sunning it’s self…
And this is one verrrrry.. big one… see the size compared to the Impala….
And at some stage he has had a fight.. look at the teeth marks on his tail..
The Photographic Journey of bulldog. 
Greetings Bulldog, good fun to follow the responses to your great leguaan pics – read Gerald Durrell’s books for anecdotes regarding their capture – very entertaining (suggest The Bafut Beagles)…
Thank you Jon for the visit and comment .. I try to find the book…
Wow! What a fascinating creature. Back in the Philippines, we had a big lizard that looks almost like this one but it lives on trees. Great pictures.
Thank you.. certain of these also climb trees.. specially when they feel danger…
OMG these are incredible, that last one with the fish, are you kidding me? great shots bulldog!
Thanks .. this was lucky.. I never even knew they caught fish and then left the water to eat them…
OOOOOOOOOOHHHH….NEVER EVER, EVER want to meet up with one of these!! Amazing shots! Love the teeth marks! YIKES!
Had to fight it off.. got a good grip of its tail with my teeth and then bashed it around the head till it gave me the fish….
hahahahahahhahaahha! I can SEE you doing that! What was it thinking messing with YOU!!??!!
Must have been out of its mind… or I was out of mine… lol
hehehe !
Even if they have never killed humans I definitely would not want to encounter one in the wild. Great photos 🙂
They run like the wind… I know I’ve tried to catch a few… they are just too fast…
This is why I enjoy pools so much more than natural bodies of water…:| I just could get comfortable on my floating lounge chair knowing critters like these were cruising around me.
Come on Lorna… imagine one of these giving you a nuzzle in the pool… would probably remind you of some of you boy friends from years ago…
Yeah, come to think of it, they were kind of scary and slimy too… 😉
Very interesting read and photos amazing – I bet that the tail can break legs .. if too close.
Could be a cousin to the Komodo dragon … they are scary. Nearly 3 mtr .. is half a Komodo. Amazing shots .. you got here.
Thanks Viveka.. probably is family of the Komodo dragon… they are quite wide spread with I think nearly 20 different types in Australia and so forth…the monitors like all lizards are big families..
Impressive – and you got some really good shots – great that you notice the teeth-marks on its tail.
Sempre fantastiche le tue foto. Scusami tanto se seguo poco in questo periodo, ma ho pochissimo tempo libero e alla sera non ho molta voglia di mettermi al pc. Un caro saluto, Pat
No worries Pat… you call in at anytime you want…
They look very similar to our goanna in Australia. They say these creatures are short sighted and if you frighten one in the bush they’ll ‘run up’ you because they think you’re a tree – but I’m pretty sure this is just an old wives tale 😉
That sounds to me like an old wives tale, otherwise there would be a lot of stories of people with these things sitting on their heads… yes the Goanna is just one more portion of the family… these monitors are so similar it is difficult telling some from the other…
They almost look like something from the past! Great shots.
I agree, almost prehistoric…
Awesome!
Thanks
That is one cool looking lizard!
Thank you…
Bulldog, you’re so funny! I don’t know what I would do if I saw a leguaan crossing my path.. probably freeze 🙂
It would never cross your path.. you would have to chase it to get close.. or like me sneak up on it…
That is one big leguaan! An impressive animal. And great captures, by the way.
Thank you so much… it was a biggy…
I wonder what bit that one like that? Those are quite huge. Nice pics again Bulldog.
I have seen a couple doing battle over a female and although they normally look like they are wrestling.. I have never seen one bite the other on the tail… but would not rule it out as the loser runs for it and the winner chases… maybe this one got a reminder as to who is the boss…
I love learning about creatures I’ve never encountered. Thank you, Bulldog. Happy to see it in photos and not on my trail! 😀
Not to worry if anything you would be trying to catch it… and there is no chance of that… glad you’re learning…
Amazing shots – that one with the impala is impressive, but I love the one with the fish at the end.
That was a lucky capture… first time I’ve seen them catch a fish and exit the water with it…thank you..
Wonderful close-ups, even down to the teeth marks in his tail. Eina! They do look rather scary, but most reptiles look scary to me. 🙂
I think you know these are far more frightened of us than we need be of them… I was lucky to get so close to the one… had to sneak up on it…
Hahahaha!!! Bulldog playing Crocodile Dundee, attacking the Leguaan with his teeth. You always put such interesting visuals in my head :). They are awesome creatures, but they make Zipper the gecko look like a newborn LOL!
You picturing me as Crocodile Dundee has now given me a good laugh… specially as I bite instead of using a long knife, like the Aussie… Now I’m picturing myself dashing around the reserves on foot chasing down the large leguaans so I can battle with them… thank you that has started my day off with a good laugh… Yes Zipper will have to take a back seat to this guy…
We made each other laugh – now that’s what friends are for :). I’m still thinking that you could make some really great movies to share with us!
Very big fella!
Wouldn’t frighten an Aussie… you.. like us are used to big crocs..
Interesting. Do these attack humans readily?
Not in the least… he will take off long before you come anywhere near him… harmless fellow…
A big creature for sure – would hate to come upon it by surprise!
The chances of that are slim at the least… he’ll hear you or feel your vibrations and be off long before you surprise him,,, although he could give you a fright if he suddenly dashed away from near you… they have a deep hissing, almost throat clearing sound that might even frighten me if I was unaware of his presence..
Now they seem even scarier!
He’s kind of big. I think I prefer the geckos and little iguanas. Great post. I always learn something.
Thank you.. the one near the impala is probably one of the biggest I’ve seen.. but actually quite harmless.. will run for the hills if he sees you…
Quite beautiful!
Ha ha did you bite it?!
The big one looks like a dinosaur…
Got hungry and tasted its tail… lol… they often fight each other over a female… I can only think that tooth mark is from a like size lizard that gave him a “nasty” during a fight…
I love reptiles. They’re so prehistoric-looking.
These guys give an air of danger but actually are so timid… my son managed to grab one once.. I don’t think he realised how powerful they are… it let him have it with its tail and the contorting body made it difficult to avoid those claws… all he wanted to do was give it a love…
Beautiful photos. I don’t know that I would want to come across him. Have they ever killed humans? Just curious.
NO never killed humans, have a nasty tail swing when they feel threatened, but normally run from any contact with humans… this one I crept up on with the vehicle, to manage to get so close without him realising I was in the car… otherwise he would have been in the water and gone…
Just saw one in my yard on Xmas day,how do i know if it’s still here or has left?