- Where to see one
- 3 U.S. zoos in our directory hold savannah monitor, confirmed against each zoo's own animal list.
Conservation status
Not Evaluated
This species has not been assessed for the IUCN Red List, so it sits outside the threat scale entirely.
About the savannah monitor
The savannah monitor is a medium-sized, stoutly built monitor lizard native to sub-Saharan Africa, ranging from Senegal east to Sudan and south almost to the Congo River. It is mainly ground-dwelling and shelters in burrows, though it is sometimes found in bushes or low trees. Its powerful limbs are suited to digging, and its jaws and blunt, peg-like teeth are adapted for hard-shelled prey. It eats mostly arthropods and molluscs, including snails, millipedes, scorpions, crickets and beetles, plus frogs and carrion. Females dig a deep hole and lay up to 40 or more eggs. Size rarely exceeds 100 cm.
Savannah Monitor facts
- Its teeth are replaced about every 109 days.
- The jaw puts maximum leverage at the back, which helps it crush snail shells.
- In Europe it is known as Bosc's monitor, after the French scientist who first described it.
- Eggs take about 156 to 160 days to hatch.
Where to see savannah monitor in the U.S.
3 zoos across 3 states
Find the closest one
Rank the 2 zoos holding savannah monitor by how far they are from you. Your location is used in your browser to sort this list and is never sent to us.
1 more zoo holds savannah monitor but has no coordinates on file yet, so it isn't ranked here. It's in the full list below.
Florida· 1
Louisiana· 1
Texas· 1
AZAThe Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Accredited members have passed an independent inspection of animal care and welfare, safety, conservation and education, repeated every five years. Many smaller facilities never apply, so “not accredited” isn't a verdict on its own. What accreditation means · How we check this
Built from each zoo's own published animal list.
