Nile monitor: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the Nile monitor lives – recorded in 20 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Varanus niloticus
Group	Lizards, geckos & tuatara
Status	Least concern (Wikidata, IUCN category label)
Found in	20 countries
Continents	Africa, North America
Diet (main food)	Reptilia, Rodent, Spider, cat, fish, lizard, Diplopoda, Orthoptera, egg, carrion, Testudines, beetle, Raphicerus, Breviceps, Sclerophrys, Lumbricus terrestris, snail, Brachyura, invertebrate, feces, bird, Anura, termite, toad, caterpillar, human waste
Class	Reptile
Order	Squamata
Family	Varanidae

Where does the Nile monitor live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the Nile monitor in 20 countries and territories across Africa and North America.

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

What does a Nile monitor eat?

Wikidata lists the main food source of the Nile monitor as: Reptilia, Rodent, Spider, cat, fish, lizard, Diplopoda, Orthoptera, egg, carrion, Testudines, beetle, Raphicerus, Breviceps, Sclerophrys, Lumbricus terrestris, snail, Brachyura, invertebrate, feces, bird, Anura, termite, toad, caterpillar, human waste.

Is the Nile monitor endangered?

The Nile monitor’s conservation status recorded in Wikidata is “Least concern” (an IUCN Red List category label). Source: Wikidata.

What kind of animal is the Nile monitor?

The Nile monitor (Varanus niloticus) is a reptile in the order Squamata and the family Varanidae, genus Varanus. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the Nile monitor

The Nile monitor (Varanus niloticus) is a large member of the monitor family (Varanidae) found throughout most of Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in drier regions, and along the Nile River and its tributaries in East Africa. Additionally, there are modern, invasive populations in North America. The population found in West African forests and savannahs is sometimes recognized as a separate species, the West African Nile monitor (V. niloticus stellatus) and Ornate monitor (V. niloticus ornatus). While it is dwarfed by its larger relatives, such as the Komodo dragon, the Asian water monitor or the crocodile monitor, it is still one of the largest lizards in the world, reaching (and even surpassing) Australia's perentie in size. Other common names include the African small-grain lizard, as well as iguana and various forms derived from it, such as guana, water leguaan or river leguaan (leguan, leguaan, and likkewaan mean monitor lizard in South African English, and can be used interchangeably).

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Nile monitor (revision 1375950983), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q737896 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).