Varanus rosenbergi

6 Heath or Rosenberg's Monitor at Hackett, ACT

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Varanus rosenbergi wombey 15 Oct 2020
Varanus rosenbergi trevsci 15 Oct 2020

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Significant sighting

MichaelMulvaney noted:

15 Oct 2020

Any sighting of goannas close to urban Canberra is a signifcant sighting.

6 comments

   15 Oct 2020
great spotting trevsci!
   15 Oct 2020
Don this looks like a youngish animal any guesses to how old?
   15 Oct 2020
Wasn't very long, less than 1m, sorry I didn't get a better pic.
   15 Oct 2020
that is a good picture! and a significant sighting!!
Don, remember the termite mount with scratch marks not far away which you noticed and of which I took photos (27 Jan 2017) and we had a correspondence about the mount? one of our volunteers took a photo of a young RB nearby in Feb 2018 (Varanus rosenbergi (Heath or Rosenberg's Monitor)) and Jochen saw a large RM not far from all these sightings (body length approx 1m) in Feb 2016 (unfortunately, no photo).
   16 Oct 2020
Many thanks trevsci. This is the most female looking goanna I have seen so far from Ainslie or Majura, but could be a juvenile male too. Females are seen much less at our Naas site and I guess the same would apply for A-M. I can't guess age. I don't think there is any reliable ageing method for Varanids, but we know Rosenberg's are capable of living at least 30 years in the wild. We will probably start a camera survey at A-M this summer. Hopefully that will help give an estimate of population size and may start to recognise some individuals for future years.
   16 Oct 2020
Correction!! As Matthew Higgins pointed out, my comment about 'most female looking' omitted consideration of 'Rosie' and 'Roxy', the females he found nesting on Mt Ainslie.

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