තලගොයා[Thalagoya]/Land Monitor(Varanus bengalensis)

Land monitor is widely distributed throughout the country from sea level to mid hills up to about 500m a.s.l. It is diurnal and usually active after having got it body temperature up by basking in the morning. It spends the night in tree holes, crevices and even in the ceilings of the houses. Juveniles mainly feed on insects while adults prey on frogs, small mammals (rats, squirrels), snails, insects, grubs, crabs, eggs, etc. Its flesh is a delicacy among indigenous Vedda people. Also other jungle villagers hunt these lizards for its flesh which is believed to be easy to digest and hence good for pregnant women and invalids. Fighting among males during breeding season take place in ‘bipedal fashion’ can be occurred and it is believed that they probably breed all the year round and lays 10-30 eggs in a burrow in the ground, in termite mounds or inside decaying logs.

Kabaragoya/Water Monitor (Varanus salvator)

Common lizard of wet lands such as mangroves, tanks, paddy fields, canals and also streams in forests of all climatic zones from coasts to mid hills.  But Deraniyagala mentioned that Water monitor is absent in areas subject to drought that are frequented by wild boar which prey upon it (A Colored atlas of some vertebrates from Ceylon – Tetrapod reptilia Vol 2 -1953). He also indicated that it is unknown from south-east part of the country from Hambegamuwa to Tissamaharama. However recent researches on distribution of this lizard suggested that it is present in that area excluding Yala National Park [Probably due to the high abundance of crocodiles] but very rare (Lizards of Sri Lanka – Ruchira Somaweera 2009). It is mainly a scavenger and feed on carrions, fishes, crabs, eggs of water birds, turtles and crocodiles, birds, small mammals, snakes etc.