1 Heath or Rosenberg's Monitor at Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve
Identification history
| Varanus rosenbergi | 20 Nov 2023 | wombey | ||
| Varanus rosenbergi | 20 Nov 2023 | CarbonAI | ||
| Varanus rosenbergi | 20 Nov 2023 | Miranda2638 | ||
| Varanus rosenbergi | 19 Nov 2023 | Miranda2638 |
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User's notes
This was a beautiful lizard, maybe a metre long incl. tail? I was a bit worried about him because he was so slow/not reactive to me trying to usher him off. the path. Hopefully he/she is okay. Location approximate, but it was on the Gibraltar peak path - closer to the start than the end, about 10am on November 19
6 comments
DonFletcher
wrote:
19 Nov 2023
Hi @Miranda2638, Male Rosenberg Goannas are frequently like that. He is probably OK. But they are usually longer than that. Were you on the walking path starting at the Visitor Centre, the walking path starting at Dalsetta Carpark, or the Fire Road?
Unfortunately your photo did not upload, and the location is showing in the grazing property on the opposite side of Tourist Drive 5 from the Gibraltar Peak paths, i.e. something went wrong! Could you have another try please?
Unfortunately your photo did not upload, and the location is showing in the grazing property on the opposite side of Tourist Drive 5 from the Gibraltar Peak paths, i.e. something went wrong! Could you have another try please?
Miranda2638
wrote:
20 Nov 2023
Hi there! I’m sorry I’ve tried so many times to upload it but it won’t work - I sent some videos through to the ACT Parks and Conservation Facebook page so hopefully they pick it up. I’m not sure how to make the map location better as I don’t really know exactly where the path goes - but I walked from Dalsetta car park up to Gibraltar Peaks and back down again. I saw it on the way down. I’ll try again tonight to upload.
Miranda2638
wrote:
20 Nov 2023
Ooh the photo upload worked this time! It’s just a screen grab from a bunch of videos I took but I don’t think I can upload videos here. A metre is my very approximate guess - could have easily been a bit bigger, maybe 1.5 metres. I was trying not to over-guess the length as I know the tendency is for people to do that.
AaronClausen
wrote:
20 Nov 2023
Glad it worked. We don't support videos at this stage. Many thanks for uploading.
DonFletcher
wrote:
20 Nov 2023
Hi again @Miranda2638, Well done indeed for uploading, and for persisting. I have changed the location to the track between Dalsetta Carpark and Gibraltar Peak. And I have checked the goanna's face against photos of a few others posted from the Tidbinbilla-Birrigai area. Rosenberg's Goannas have unique left faces and right faces. So if you get another chance, and manage to get a good enough close up photo of the face (hopefully both sides), it can be put to use with other photos in determining things like whether the population is persisting in the area or if it is only a 'sink' population, comprising only persistent immigration from elsewhere. For example see sighting 4528401 at Baroona, where it can be seen from 5-6 years of photos posted to CNM that there are 6 regular goannas and a few others that are seen only once and never again. @AaronClausen
Your goanna here would be a male and is likely to have been about 1.2 to 1.3 m long. Rosenberg's Goannas live for decades, can recognise different people, and remember some things for years. So maybe one day you will meet this guy again and he knows not to run because you were OK with him last time, back in 2023. cheers.
Your goanna here would be a male and is likely to have been about 1.2 to 1.3 m long. Rosenberg's Goannas live for decades, can recognise different people, and remember some things for years. So maybe one day you will meet this guy again and he knows not to run because you were OK with him last time, back in 2023. cheers.
Location information
- Maps Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve
- Places Paddys River, ACT
Sighting information
- 1 Abundance
- Miranda2638 Recorded by
-
Collections
Miranda2638 Canberra & Southern Tablelands NatureMapr Varanus rosenbergi Monitors & Geckos Reptiles and Frogs
Species information
- Varanus rosenbergi Scientific name
- Heath or Rosenberg's Monitor Common name
- Sensitive
- Very rare / threatened
- Non-invasive or negligible
- Up to 1432.1m Recorded at altitude
- External link More information
Record quality
- Images or audio
- More than one media file
- Verified by an expert moderator
- Nearby sighting(s) of same species
- GPS evidence of location
- Description
- Additional attributes