Gray's monitor

Gray's monitor (Varanus olivaceus) is a large (180 cm, >9 kg) monitor lizard known only from lowland dipterocarp forest in the east of Luzon and a few smaller adjacent islands in the Philippines such as Polillo Island, where it is locally known as the butaan. It belongs to the subgenus Philippinosaurus. ^[3] It is largely arboreal and extremely shy. It is classed as vulnerable by the IUCN because most of its habitat has been destroyed over the last 60 years. Its diet consists primarily of fruit, especially Pandanus, and snails.

References

Bibliography

• Auffenberg, W. 1988. Gray's Monitor Lizard. University of Florida Press, Gainesville
• Bennett, Daniel (2000). "Preliminary survey and status report for Varanus olivaceus on Polillo Island.". In Daniel Bennett. Wildlife of Polillo Island, Philippines. University of Oxford - University of the Philippines at Los Banos Polillo '99 project. Final report.. Glossop: Viper Press. pp. 174 pp. ISBN 0952663252. 

External links

• The Butaan Project
• The Butaan Project - Background and History
• Butaan:The Lost Dragon