Hundreds of lizards saved from the cooking pot

clouded lizard

Malaysian wildlife officials have seized 422 clouded monitor lizards following the stopping of a truck after they received a tip off. The officials found the lizards (Varanus nebulosus) in the back of the truck wrapped with netting and placed in fruit crates. It is thought that they were on the way to be sold into the restaurant trade. The clouded lizards are in particular demand for their meat which is also thought to have health giving properties.

Over the last 2 or 3 years seizures in raids have netted thousands of clouded lizards destined for the restaurant trade

Although the species has not yet been evaluated for the IUCN Redlist, the clouded lizard has full protection under Malaysian wildlife laws. The two men in the truck was arrested and could be charged under the Protection of Wildlife Act 1972. Johor Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) director Razak Majid said the arrests were made while the men were still loading the animals onto the vehicle. “The suspects were from Pahang and believed to be animal wholesalers on their way to sell the monitor lizards to their buyers,” he said. “The lizards are much sought-after for their meat, which is believed to have medicinal benefits”

Once the lizards have been examined they are expected to be returned to their natural habitat in one of the local national parks.

This latest seizure is just the latest in an on going battle against wildlife traders who provide meat for the restaurant trade. Compared with recent years the 422 lizards saved is small in number. Over the last 2 or 3 years seizures in raids have netted thousands of clouded lizards destined for the restaurant trade. In November 2008 officials retrieved over 7000 lizards in 2 raids in Johor. In April 2009 Malaysian wildlife officials in a joint operation with officials from Kuala Lumpa rescued over 1200 lizards from a lorry. Another large haul of over 2300 lizards were seized in January 2009. On-going raids continue to recover lizards numbers in the hundreds each time.

Many countries are trying to stamp down on the restaurants that served endangered and protected animals but it is notoriously difficult for wildlife and law enforcement officials to gain sufficient evidence. Restaurants and traders often have secret store rooms and only serve the illegal exotic meat to the known and trusted customers. The passing customer trade and strangers will only be offered the more legitimate food. In many countries, such as Laos and Kuala Lumpa, exotic meat such as monitor lizard is on open sale in markets.

In a rare example of success for the authorities at the beginning of September 2010 officials from Vietnam forestry services arrested dozens of restaurant owners and seized massive amounts of exotic meat and protected animal body parts. The raids took place in a popular tourist area in Lam Dong province. seizures included skins from clouded leopards, Asian bearcats and primate species including apes. The raids were mounted by over 100 wildlife officials and supported by the Wildlife Conservation Society who had undertaken surveying of cafés and restaurants in the area.

Even though there is ongoing trading of clouded lizards there could be the small signs of changing habits in the latest figures. Currently the market price of a monitor lizards is around £20 each, the raid in April 2009 which rescued 1202 lizards had been estimated to have been worth RM60,000 or an average of £50 each. If the value of lizards have really halved over the last 18 months then there’s a real possibility that demand is beginning to drop leading to lower prices. This would fit in with trends that are now being noticed in other exotic meat markets for Asia. The younger professional classes and city dwellers appears to be turning away from traditional and exotic meats. An example of this has been the drop in demand for shark fins over the last couple of years in a number of modern south eat Asian cities such as Hong Kong.

The exotic meat market and the trade in endangered animals is by it’s very nature secretive and so it’s hard to find any real information on numbers involved but if prices for lizard meat is dropping then perhaps conservation awareness is changing habits and reducing demand. Is it reducing demand quick enough to stop species becoming threatened is the question that needs to be answered.

photo credit: Pix of Stuff