Here is another cool animal we saw at the Staten Island zoo. I can't for the life of me remember the name of this big fella.
We were lucky because the staff was doing a presentation with some of the animals and we were able to pet this guy. His skin was super cool. I was surprised how docile this lizard was, it had claws, but he did not scratch at anyone. He also has a forked tongue, just like snakes. Neat!
8 comments:
He is a big fellow!
He is big. Wow!
He looks like a 'Pete' to me. Err...I don't think I'd like to be friends with him, though. If I want claws I have my sisters.
Whoa, that's a big lizard! It's making me hungry! Nevermind the fact that he looks to be bigger than me and a lot heavier...
That's the biggest lizard I ever saw! I wonder if his tail falls off like the little ones do?
A biggie! So weird looking.....
He's called a George. All lizards are named "George"...
Hi there, I am actually the person who was holding that lizard that day. My friend found this and pointed it out to me. That lizard would be a Savannah Monitor, living in the savannas of africa. At the zoo we call him Tony, for those of you wondering his name.
To answer the question of "Daisy" No his tail does not fall off. Usually smaller lizards have whats called "Caudal Autonomy" which is the ability to loose their tails. Smaller lizards need it as a defense from predators. Considering the savannah monitor is so large, they dont need that defense, and instead have a very muscular tail.
And for the record, back then that lizard was 3 and for him, that is as big as he is ever getting. In the wild, they can live up to 15 years, and they can grow out to 5 ish feet long. So hes quite small in comparison.
Hope this cleared some things up for you, and Im really glad you enjoyed your trip to the zoo.
If you come back, during the winter on weekends some animals are usually out. In the spring/summer when the weather is nice and there is usually more people, on weekends at one we usually have the animal presentation. (Which is what you saw) In the summer after school ends, the presentations are on every day at one.
Again, Im glad you enjoyed our animals and the presentation at the zoo. Come again, we have new animals!
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