Mampam Conservation

Monitor Lizards ( 1 items )
Butaan Project ( 14 items )
African Monitors ( 12 items )

Five Facts about Savannah Monitors

1. It is estimated that 90% of savannah montor lizards do not survive their first year of captivity.

2. The USA is by far the biggest importer of savannah monitors

3. Savannah monitor lizards are one of the commonest dumped/unwanted pets according to animal rescue centers

4. It is estimated that less than 0.003% of the savannah monitors exported into the USA reproduced in captivity

5. Savannah monitor lizards are all wild caught, either as babies, eggs or as gravid adult females

Five Myths about Savannah Monitors

1. Wild savannah monitors are highly opportunistic scavengers a bit like vultures

2. Savannah monitors come from dry places

3. Savannah monitors are undemanding in captivity

4. Savannah monitors are hardy and easy to keep
5. Savannah monitors are ideal for beginners
Bui Hippo Project ( 17 items )
Polillo Project ( 1 items )
Madagascar Bat Project ( 1 items )
Frogs of Coorg ( 2 items )
Western Visayas ( 1 items )
Caspian Monitor Lizard ( 1 items )

About Mampam

Savannah Monitor Book

Our pet-owners' guide to savannah monitor lizard is the first ever written by people who have studied the animals in the wild and bred them in captivity. There are at least seven books in print about the savannah monitor, but we think this is the only one worth reading! Last few available

U.K. Customers

Customers outside U.K.

To mark the export of half a million savannah monitors from Africa for the pet trade in the 21st century “The Truth about Varanus exanthematicus has been released as an ebook. Just £3 worldwide!

Mampam T-Shirts

T-Shirts from Mampam Conservation

Support our work by wearing our shirts; colours and styles for everybody!
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Help Mampam

Please help us in our conservation efforts by making a small donation to us through PayPal... every little bit helps!

The Butaan Project

The Butaan Project - Background and History

The butaan was first described to science in 1845 from a juvenile specimen collected by Hugh Cuming. It was labelled only "Philippines". It was named Varanus grayi. No other specimens came to light for over 120 years. In the 1970s Walter Auffenberg found another specimen with a location in Luzon, established that its correct scientific name was Varanus olivaceus, and undertook a 22 month study of the species based in Bicol. His study revealed that butaan occupy a unique ecological niche and have a lifestyle quite unlike any other monitor lizard. Auffenberg used local hunters with dogs to catch the animals. Of 126 butaan caught during his study, 116 animals were killed.