Big goannas in Royal National Park don’t confine themselves to bushland.
“I’ve seen one swimming across the Hacking River at Audley that did a good imitation of a crocodile,” said the park’s regional manager Gary Dunnett.
Mr Dunnett was commenting on the huge goanna videoed a week ago by Greg Tannos, who spotted it while riding his mountain bike on a trail at Loftus in the national park.
The goanna, which Mr Tannos said was “at least 1.5 metres long, and probably closer to two metres”, was trying to raid a magpie’s nest.
Mr Dunnett said there were two species of monitor (varanid or goanna) in Royal National Park, the Lace Monitor and Heath Monitor.
The Lace Monitor was the larger, exceeding 1.5 metres in length.
”They are rarely seen much larger, however they are a species that gets much bulkier and heavier as they age rather than longer,” he said.
“Both species are keen predators of nesting birds and arboreal mammals as well as consuming carrion.
“One of the reasons they grow so large in the park is that the adults have no natural predators.”
Mr Dunnett said juveniles, up to a metre long, were sometimes taken by predatory birds, “with Little Eagles having a particular taste for young goannas”.
“Goannas have huge territories and are constantly on the move through them especially when the weather is warm,” he said.
NPWS recommends park visitors should always keep their distance from these large reptiles [because] they are unpredictable and will vigorously defend themselves if they feel threatened or if it thinks you’re too close.”
Mr Dunnett’s advice included.
- Keep your distance at all times. If you see one you should move away from its direction of movement and maintain an approach distance of at least 10 metres.
- Do not attempt to harass or scare the animal away.
- Never feed reptiles. Goannas find it difficult to distinguish between your hand and the food in it. A goanna bite or scratch is very painful and prone to infection as these animals are scavengers.
- Keep camp / picnic sites clean and do not leave any food or food scraps lying around.
- Make sure food is stored in strong sealed airtight containers to ensure that large goannas cannot smell the food.
- Please do not feed wildlife: Feeding goannas can make them a nuisance around permanent camp and picnic sites.
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