Varanus salvator (Laurenti, 1768)

Teynié, Alexandre, David, Patrick & Ohler, Annemarie, 2010, Note on a collection of Amphibians and Reptiles from Western Sumatra (Indonesia), with the description of a new species of the genus Bufo, Zootaxa 2416, pp. 1-43 : 17

Varanus salvator (Laurenti, 1768)

Material examined. Several specimens, adult and subadult, were observed in Bayur, Province of Sumatera Barat, elev. 480 m. – A road killed specimen, not preserved, in the area just northeast of Kirilanjao, Province of Sumatera Barat.

Taxonomic comments. These specimens are typical for the species (see, for example, Gaulke & Horn, 2004).

Distribution on Sumatra. Provinces of Aceh, Sumatera Utara, Sumatera Barat, Riau, Jambi, Sumatera Selatan, and Lampung; also the islands of Engano, Nias, Simeulue and We ( De Rooij, 1915).

Biology. This species is still relatively common along the eastern shore of Lac Maninjau. Specimens were often observed at dawn and sometimes just before sunset. Some of them seem to be regular at their basking site. A few adults could swim up to about 150 m from the shore. A monitor’s burrow was detected in the vertical bank of a stream, concealed in tangled vegetation.

The specimen found dead was killed while it was crawling near a stream on a road crossing a piece of primary forest in hills.

Monitors are still (temporarily?) common in populated areas where they sometimes forage in the garbage cans.