Monitor lizards inhabiting Lumpini Park in central Bangkok are being removed and relocated to a wildlife breeding centre upcountry starting yesterday, officials said.
According to the local authorities, there are as many as 400 of them in one of Bangkok’s major tourist attractions.
The move follows complaints made by park visitors that the creatures frighten them, the Bangkok authorities explained, adding that they have also caused minor accidents with people jogging and cycling in the park.
Besides causing some disturbances, they are not known to attack humans or pose any dangers, the authorities added.
Monitor lizards are cold-blooded reptiles commonly found in tropical countries.
They are usually found near water so they are sometimes mistaken for crocodiles.
The lizards, 1-2.5 metres long, are to be transferred to Khao Son wildlife breeding centre in Ratchaburi, nearly 100 kilometres west of Bangkok.
The Bangkok authorities said they aim to remove and relocate at least 40 monitors by the end of yesterday and the relocation effort will continue until further notice.
They added that it might not be possible to remove all of them.
To catch the monitor lizards, local officials used raw fish as bait before putting duct tape over their mouths, tying their legs with ropes and packing them in sacks individually.
Animal rights and environment groups have expressed concerns that the relocation would be detrimental to the lizards’ wellbeing and the ecological system as a whole.
“I am certainly against it,” said Michael Cota, a lizard specialist at the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Species Survival Commission (SSC).
“The environment at Lumpini park is ideal for these monitors, even more so than in forests. I am certain they would not survive longer than a few months in a new facility because there will be no one with expertise there,” Cota added.
Monitor lizards have also been spotted in other parts of Thailand.
In June, a video of a giant monitor lizard filmed by a resident in Samutprakarn province, 40 kilometres south of Bangkok, went viral after he posted it on his Facebook page.
The lizard was seen knocking on the front door of the poster’s house, inspiring some funny Internet memes.
Then in July, another video clip went viral online.