In this still frame taken from video provided by the Riverside CountyDepartment of Animal Services, an employee holds a crocodilemonitor, a lizard that can grow to eight feet long, in Riverside,California, Thursday. The four-foot-long crocodile monitor, a relativeof the famous Komodo dragon, and native to Papua New Guinea andIndonesia, was spotted sunning itself on top of a hedge Wednesdayafternoon in the backyard of a Riverside home. It's legal to ownthem in California and if the owner doesn't claim it, the monitor willbe sent to a sanctuary for exotic animals. (Photo: AP)
November 3, 2017
4-foot-long lizard found in Southern California backyard
CALIFORNIA, USA (AP) — A lizard that can grow to be eight feet long has been found in Southern California, thousands of miles from its native land, and authorities think it’s a pet gone astray.
The four-foot-long crocodile monitor was spotted sunning itself on top of a hedge Wednesday afternoon in the backyard of a Riverside home.
The crocodile monitor is a relative of the famous Komodo dragon. It is native to Papua New Guinea and Indonesia — not California — but it is legal to own them in the state.
It is green and yellow with big claws, a long tail and a forked tongue.
The big lizard is now being held by Riverside County’s animal services division. If the owner doesn’t claim it, the monitor will be sent to a sanctuary for exotic animals.
The lizard found in a backyard in Riverside, California.
