Indore: Indore city zoo (Kamla Nehru Prani Sangrahalaya) is the only one in state to have both iguana and Monitor lizards. Now, attempting to make another record, zoo authorities are hoping to be among the few zoos in the world where iguana and monitor lizards breed naturally.
City zoo plans to make their enclosures bigger, which is likely to provide favourable conditions for them to breed. “Breeding of Monitor lizards and iguanas is quite challenging in captivity, natural breeding examples are very limited, but natural breeding is the best way to have healthy eggs and eventual off springs,” Dr Uttam Yadav, city zoo in-charge, said.
He shared that iguanas tend to follow a promiscuous or polygynandrous mating style during the dry season. “We currently have only a pair of iguanas so even that is one limitation and another was providing them enough space and privacy,” Yadav said.
Iguanas prefer mating in dry season as it ensures that their offspring will hatch during the wet or rainy season when food will be more plentiful.
Discussing Monitor lizards, Yadav said, “Breeding monitor lizards has proven to be tricky, even for experts around the world, but it is possible that a better environment will promote natural breeding.” Breeding Monitor lizards is a much longer process where they mate several time over a period of several months.
“Hence, we decided to transform our old tiger enclosure for iguanas and monitor lizards to have enough space,” Yadav said. There are three monitor lizards in the zoo.
Further, the enclosure is made entirely from glass allowing more light as preferred by the species. This would also give better view to visitors inviting more attention from children.
Discussing protection of Monitor lizards, Yadav said, “According to IUCN Red List of threatened species, most of the Monitor lizards’ species fall in the categories of least concern, but the population is decreasing globally.”
He added that monitor lizards are classified by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora under Appendix II, which is loosely defined as species that are not necessarily threatened with extinction, but may become so unless trade in such species is subject to strict regulation to avoid use incompatible with the survival of the species in the wild.
