AKIPRESS.COM - One-meter-long grey monitor lizard was noticed walking in the fruit orchard in Batken region.

Local biodiversity and protected nature areas department chief Ashirali Pirmatov monitor lizards are not dangerous to a human being. This is endangered species.

"Pythons can be met on the territory of Leilek district. Snakes can be found in valleys in Kadamjai and Batken district. As for monitor lizards, there are lots of them. Locals captured them on video. Some lizards are one meter long. They are not dangerous," the official said.

The Central Asian grey monitor lizard is found living throughout Central Asia, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Turkey, Iran and Afghanistan. The northern border of the range reaches the coast of the Aral Sea and the southern cliffs of Ustyurt and generally coincides with the border of the southern deserts. In the west, the range is limited by the coast of the Caspian Sea. In the east, along the Syrdarya valley, the grey monitor lizard penetrates into the Fergana valley (where it is now extremely rare or disappeared), and along the Amu Darya valley its range reaches southwestern Tajikistan.

Central Asian gray monitors live in large numbers in the places abundant in small mammals.

Large species can reach a length of 1.5 meters (where a body makes about 60 cm and the tail is 90 cm long) and weigh up to 3-3.5 kg. But most adult monitor lizards are much smaller. Males are usually longer than females (the largest male from Turkmenistan, sampled in 1981, was 58.5 cm long excluding tail, and the largest female was only 46 cm long excluding tail), but not much heavier than them (heaviest weighed in this sample the male weighed 2,850 grams, while the female weighed 2,700 grams)