Endangered large reptile species found in Kurdistan of Turkey

The one-meter-long lizard can be found in the Sirnak and Sanliurfa provinces.

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – Locals in Turkey’s Kurdish province of Sirnak over the weekend found a one-meter-long monitor lizard, a member of the endangered species Varanus griseus that is endemic to Southwest Asia and North Africa.

People who spotted the reptile during a road construction project called representatives of Turkey’s Directorate of Nature and National Parks to let them know of the existence of the species under threat of extinction.

A one-meter-long lizard Varanus griseus was found in the Cizre district of the Kurdish province of Sirnak, Turkey, March 26, 2018. (Photo: DHA)
A one-meter-long lizard Varanus griseus was found in the Cizre district of the Kurdish province of Sirnak, Turkey, March 26, 2018. (Photo: DHA)

Officials caged the animal to take it to a veterinarian.

Orhan Kalay of the directorate told the privately-owned Dogan news agency that they would release it to its natural habitat after a health check.

The official said the lizard could be found in a rural area between the Cizre and Silopi districts, near the border with Syria and Iraq.

“It is also known to live in the Sanliurfa Province,” he said.

A carnivore, the lizard’s diet consists of grasshoppers, spiders, and eggs of various animals.

A one-meter-long lizard Varanus griseus was found in the Cizre district of the Kurdish province of Sirnak, Turkey, March 26, 2018. (Photo: DHA)
A one-meter-long lizard Varanus griseus was found in the Cizre district of the Kurdish province of Sirnak, Turkey, March 26, 2018. (Photo: DHA)

 

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany