Monitor lizard invasion in Korat sees 200 to 300 reptiles gather
Safety concerns are rising in Nakhon Ratchasima after hordes of water monitor lizards turned up along the city moat and wandered into the nearby market, prompting residents to call for agencies to manage the animals.
Today, February 17, reporters visited the moat area behind Municipal Market 5, known by locals as Talat Pratu Phi, within Nakhon Ratchasima municipality, after reports that monitor lizards had been coming up to search for food.
Lizard numbers reportedly vary by area, with some stretches said to have 200 to 300 animals, including several large ones that residents say roam roadsides and drift close to homes and market shops.
Some residents said the lizards have come close enough to people to cause alarm. Even without reports of attacks, locals said their presence in busy public areas still raises safety concerns, especially for children and older people.
Locals also pointed out that the species is protected wildlife, which they said makes efforts to capture or relocate the animals more complicated.
A resident, 57 year old Ramphoei, said the area has long had a large number of monitor lizards, with some so big that she compared them to crocodiles.
She added that the reason the lizards appear so often may be linked to some market vendors bringing food to them, which she believes has made the animals familiar with people and less likely to flee.
Residents said that even though most lizards return to the moat once they have eaten, they still want officials to consider steps to control the population or manage the situation, warning that the problem could become more serious in the future.
Thairath reported that sightings of monitor lizards along the moat, in markets and in urban communities across Nakhon Ratchasima province have become a familiar scene over the past several years.
In similar news, back in September last year, a large monitor lizard wandered into a restaurant in Thailand, prompting staff to call rescue workers as startled customers fled the unexpected visitor. According to the owner, the lizard may have been lured in by the scent of food and is believed to have entered the property through a drainage pipe before scaling the wall.
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