For this post, we move away from birds and animals to focus on a reptile, which is today amongst the most vulnerable species in India. We are talking about the Indian Monitor Lizard. In India, four kinds of Monitor Lizards are found. They are the Bengal Monitor Lizard, Water Monitor Lizard, Desert Monitor Lizard and the Yellow Monitor Lizard. However, excessive hunting and loss of habitat has pushed the Indian Monitor Lizard to the brink of endangered species list. Today they are categorized as Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act. During one of our safaris in the Bandipur National Park in Karnataka, India, we had a chance sighting of the Common Indian Monitor Lizard, also known as Bengal Monitor Lizard .
Incidentally, Bandipur National Park is home to a diverse species of wildlife. Some of the Wild animals we have spotted are Elephants, Tigers, Leopards, Wild Dogs (Dhole) and Indian Gaur.
Most recently we sighted a Bengal Tiger in magical evening light and on another safari we spotted a large herd of Asiatic Elephants in Bandipur National Park, these are some of the best sighting we have had till date.
Coming back to this post, all images were taken handheld using the Jeep railings for support. The camera setup was my trusted D300, Nikon 300mm f2.8 lens and the 2x TC. All image, were taken at 600mm focal length, are slightly less than full frame and have been cropped for composition.
Image specs – f/8, 1/160s, ISO 800, 0EV
Our best sighting of a Monitor Lizard was in Yala National Park, Sri Lanka where we spotted a perfectly Camouflaged Monitor Lizard. We had another interesting sighting of this elusive reptile in Bandipur National Park where we spotted it climbing a tree.
Image specs – f/8, 1/250s, ISO 800, 0EV
Image specs – f/8, 1/160s, ISO 800, 0EV
Image specs – f/8, 1/200s, ISO 800, 0EV
