WildTrace The open atlas of illegal wildlife trade

Monitor lizard in the illegal wildlife trade

WildTrace has recorded 25 cases involving monitor lizard from public reports between 2024-01-15 and 2026-09-23, in 3 countries. 0 of them rest on an official or validated source.

CITES appendix I. Taxa covered: Varanus bengalensis, Varanus flavescens, Varanus salvator. Counts show where this trade is reported, not where it happens: reporting is uneven between countries and languages, and cases whose reports name no place are counted but cannot be mapped.

Where monitor lizard cases are reported

Recent cases

Where seized monitor lizard came from, and where it was seized

299 shipments of monitor lizard seized or confiscated were reported to CITES since 2015 (CITES Trade Database, source code I). Counts are shipment records, not quantities, and some countries report far more completely than others.

Taken from

  • Indonesia 150
  • Malaysia 100
  • Mexico 8
  • Italy 3
  • Singapore 3
  • United States 2
  • Thailand 1
  • Hong Kong 1

Seized in

  • United States 287
  • Japan 3
  • Canada 3
  • Australia 1
  • South Korea 1
  • France 1
  • China 1
  • Trinidad and Tobago 1

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See monitor lizard on the map → Download all cases (CSV)