Udupi: Rare Species of Monitor Lizard Found in Moodubelle
by Dr. Eugene D’Souza, Moodubelle
Daijiworld Media network

Udupi, Dec 8: It was the morning of Saturday, 5th December 2009. On learning that William D’Sa (Willie Master) had returned from Bangalore after receiving the prestigious ‘Rajya Prashasthi’ Award conferred on him by the Karnataka Government on 3rd December 2009 for his service to the welfare of the disabled students, i went to his home to interview him for the news to be published in media.
 
As i was completing the interview and taking pictures, i was surprised to see a young man named Sudha Panar, who stays a little further from Willie Master’s house approaching Mrs. Rita D’Sa, wife of Willie Master with a bag accompanied by his two small children   and showing her the Monitor lizard and asking her whether she was interested in having it. I was quite intrigued to see the lizard practically dead as it had bruises on its head. As Mrs. D’Sa politely declined to have it, Sudha was about to put it back in the bag to be taken to someone else. At this point, i asked Sudha to keep the reptile on the floor and took its pictures and also of Sudha holding it in his hand.

I had heard people mentioning about the Monitor lizard known by different names in different languages. It is known as ‘gaar’ in Konkani, ‘Oddu’ in Tulu, ‘odumbu’ in Tamil and Malayalam, ‘Ghorpad’ in Marathi and ‘Uda’ in Kannada. There had been people who took pride in hunting this rare species of the Monitor lizards.  In Africa, Asia, and Australia, Monitor lizards are eaten. Some are commercially important for their skins, which are made into leather, and body parts may be used for folk medicine. Many people eat its flesh which is believed to have medicinal value. It is said that with rich proteins, the flesh of the Monitor lizard has curative qualities especially diseases like tuberculosis (TB). The skin of the Monitor lizard is used for small drums known in Konkani as ‘Gumat’.

These Monitor lizards are found practically in all parts of the world which are divided into various categories depending on their size, colour and habitat. They are generally large reptiles. While some of them are as small as 12 centimetres, the largest ones known as the Komodo Dragon are the heaviest and the Crocodile Monitor are the longest.

The Bengal Monitor lizard, also known as the common Indian Monitor lizard, is found in Asia and Africa. Historically, it is widely believed that the Monitor lizard  used to scale the fort of Kondana in Pune by Tanaji Malusare, a general in the army of the Maratha ruler Shivaji. The Monitor lizard evokes mixed responses from the people across the world. It is considered a delicacy by a number of people. It is killed for sport in North Eastern India. It is revered in Maharashtra where an entire clan of people use ‘Ghorpade’ as their surname after ‘Ghorpad’ the local name for the Bengal Monitor lizard. In coastal Karnataka Monitor lizard is associated with bad luck. It usually believed that if a Monitor lizard enters a house, that house is destined to be ruined and the people living in that house would be cursed. In Tulu the phrase ‘Oddu poggudina ill’, has been used to refer a house which is in ruins or where the residents face bad luck.