Meet Clyde….not the silly sea lion that you’re all familiar with, but Clyde the Asian water monitor (also known as a Malayan water monitor). You can see him at SeaWorld San Diego’s Animal Connections, where trainers occasionally walk him around for guests to meet up-close.
With large powerful legs, monitor lizards are able to pursue prey rather than sit and wait for it. These animals are also the only other reptile other than snakes to possess a forked tongue, which they use to locate prey through scent and explore their world.
This species can measure from 5 to 10 feet in length and weigh up to 25 pounds. When threatened, water monitors can climb trees to escape danger from large predators such as snakes.
In their native watery habitats throughout Asia, water monitors eat just about anything, including insects, crabs, birds, eggs, fish, small mammals and even other reptiles. Much like the closely-related Komodo dragon, water monitors occasionally eat carrion.
Although not threatened or endangered, water monitors are hunted for their meat and skin, which is often used in leather goods.
