KANAGAWA (TR) – Kanagawa Prefectural Police have launched a search for a 1.2-meter-long monitor lizard that escaped from an apartment in Yokohama City’s Midori Ward, authorities said, reports Nippon News Network (Aug. 24).
The reptile’s owner, a man in his 60s, initially contacted police on the afternoon of August 19. “When I returned home from going out, the lizard had escaped,” he told officers.
After the creature remained missing for five days, the owner alerted the police again on Monday, prompting an official search.
The missing reptile is a Salvator monitor, commonly known as an Asian water monitor. It measures approximately 1.2 meters in length and features a black body speckled with yellow patterns.
Prior to its escape, the giant lizard was kept in a cage inside a room in the man’s apartment.
Authorities have assured the public that the animal is not venomous, does not carry dangerous pathogens, and poses a low risk of biting humans.
A team of about 10 police officers is currently scouring the surrounding neighborhood to locate the wandering reptile.
