With the rainy season come floods, and with floods come strange things popping up in strange places.
Footage of a monitor lizard caught on the school grounds of the Ateneo de Manila University has gone viral on social media.
Real life Lacoste caught in Ateneo #onebigbite ?✖️?
Creds to daniel aenlle for the vid pic.twitter.com/TKjCQs96em
— Joshua Hernandez (@JoshuaH150) July 16, 2018
Lizards in school
Students of the university have shared footage of security guards inside the campus attempting to capture a reptile thrashing about in front of staff and students.
An instructor at the university’s high school department confirmed to Interaksyon.com that the creature caught was a monitor lizard, known locally as ‘bayawak.’
A look at social media however reveals that this is not the first instance the reptile has been spotted on campus, which is partly situated on the Marikina Valley and has large swathes of forest area.
Saw a monitor lizard cross a road in ateneo while jogging once HAHA still dunno what to make of that experience
— Alessandro (@ParmeSANDS) January 26, 2017
Monitor lizards are the group of large lizards from the genus Varanus. They are common in parts of Asia, Africa, and Australia.
Most monitor lizards are carnivorous, such as the largest species in the group, the Komodo Dragon of Indonesia, which is known to grow up to 9.8 feet long and weigh up to 300 pounds.
A new species of monitor lizard was discovered in Luzon in 2010. Varanus bitatawa, now also known as the Northern Sierra Madre forest monitor, is said to grow up to 6.6 feet long and has a diet that consists primarily of fruits.
The Catholic university’s tree-laden campus not so long ago was the site of a startling discovery in biodiversity.
A species of water beetle was discovered in the campus in 2013.
Hydraena ataneo has been named after the university where its existence was discovered.
