Monitor lizards, belonging to the family Varanidae and order Squamata, are ancient reptiles found across Africa, Asia, and Australasia. As key predators and scavengers, they play an important role in maintaining ecosystem balance.According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the Yellow Monitor is Endangered and the Bengal Monitor is Near Threatened, while the Asian Water Monitor and Desert Monitor are Least Concern. In India, all are protected under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.Despite their importance, populations are declining due to habitat loss, urbanisation, and human pressures.Following the success of previous years, the Monitor Lizard Count 2025 aims to assess their distribution across India while engaging citizens in conservation.
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C, Mandal P, Majumdar A, Chatterjee A, Barman N, Basu Roy A, Barve V (2025). World Lizard Day 2024: Monitor Lizard (Varanus spp.) Count in India. Nature Mates-Nature Club. Occurrence dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/cfyv4y accessed via GBIF.org on 2026-05-25.","citationProvidedBySource":false},{"text":"Chatterjee A, Samrat C, Mandal P, Das M, William S, Majumdar A, Barman N, Basu Roy A, Barve V (2023). World Lizard Day 2022 : Monitor Lizard Count India. Version 1.6. Nature Mates-Nature Club. Occurrence dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/49tzb9 accessed via GBIF.org on 2026-05-25.","citationProvidedBySource":false},{"text":"Samrat C, Mandal P, Das M, Sain R, Mukherjee R, Das A, Majumdar A, Chatterjee A, Barman N, Basu Roy A, Barve V (2024). World Lizard Day 2023: Monitor Lizard (Varanus spp.) Count in India. Version 1.10. Nature Mates-Nature Club. 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Previously recorded observations were also accepted.","methodSteps":["Data were collected through a Google Form questionnaire, where participants submitted their observations whenever possible. The form was shared along with an instruction poster across ecology-focused Google groups, emails, social media platforms, and personal networks.\nSurvey parameters included date, location, time of observation, species richness, species identification, age classification based on size, habitat, behavior, and nesting site."]},"countryCoverage":[],"collections":[],"dataDescriptions":[],"dataLanguage":"eng","purpose":"For understanding the distribution of Monitor lizard species throughout the India.
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