Goodmorning

This picture of a rock monitor was taken at an early sunrise in November 2021, South Africa Sabi Sands Game Reserve. Rock monitors breed between October and November and females lay 8 to 50 eggs in a hollow tree or in a hole they dig in moist soil. These opportunistic carnivors show up to look for invertebrates and even for scavenging on carcasses of larger animals. These lizards are quite intelligent: they have demonstrated the ability to count as high as six in an experiment by Dr. J. Philips at the San Diego Zoo in 1999. Philips offered varying numbers of snails and the rock monitors were able to distinguish numbers whenever one was missing. They lead a solitary life and take often shelter in tree holes. Their major predators are rock pythons and leopards.