THE INDEPENDENT (Johanneburg, S Africa) 02 April 05 Giant lizards cause panic in Ukraine
Kiev (Sapa-dpa): Authorities in a provincial Ukrainian city warned people to keep their pets indoors after nine giant lizards escaped from their cages, according to a Friday Fakty newspaper report.
The African Monitor Lizards had been in transit through the Black Sea port of Marioupol when they made their break.
The lizards had been en route to zoos in the Russian cities Moscow and St Petersburg. The average length of each animal was three metres, the report said.
Nine cages containing the animals had been recently unloaded from a cargo ship onto a wharf and were awaiting rail shipment north, when the break occurred.
Two handlers discovered the lizards were missing after spending nearly three hours in a portside restaurant.
An unknown person or persons apparently released the lizards during the handlers' absence, police on the scene said, adding it ws unclear why some one would want to turn the animals loose.
The Marioupol branch of Ukraine's Ministry of Emergency Situations issued a province-wide alert warning inhabitants to avoid city parks and to keep pets, especially dogs, indoors.
The natural prey of the African Monitor Lizard is the jackal.
The lizards' owners are offering a reward, roughly equivalent to an average Ukrainian monthly salary, for each returned animal.
Arkady Pershut, a Marioupol retiree, during an evening walk spotted one of the lizards nearly a kilometre away from the port.
Asked by a reporter why he did not try to capture the animal Pershut responded: "I would like to see how fast you move if you see a three-metre-long green lizard during your after-dinner walk." -
Giant lizards cause panic in Ukraine