We use camera traps to monitor butaan populations.We have tried many different models of camera traps, but very few are able to reocrd and photographs lizards reliably. The best model was the Trailmaster 550, which work well in the forest for about 16 months. Sending defective units to the manufacturer for repair has not solved the problems. In 2005 we had 17 working camera traps, currently we have none.
Camera trap with no flash (800ASA film)
Camera trap with flash (800 ASA)
Camera trapping lizards might seem harmless, but in fact the electronic flash creates considerable disturbance. Young lizards ignore camera traps but larger individuals are scared away by camera flash and either do not return or find alternative routes to fruit!!For this reason we usually set camera traps without flash. Consequently, it can be difficult to recognise individual lizards because the pictures are dark. These problems are compounded by:
Shedding patterns
Differences in wet and dry patterns
Differences in film exposure
Nevertheless, we have a good knowledge of many butaan in the population.
Probably the biggest and oldest butaan left on Polillo
This adult male was probably killed in a trap in 2005
Old FF, a long-term resident of the watershed reserve.
A young butaan first recorded in 2004 that disappeared in 2006
And a better understanding of social systems in these mysterious animals.
Practical Conservation for Neglected Species
We work with endangered and neglected people, wildlife and habitats, finding practical solutions to serious problems.
Since 1999 the Butaan Project has been studying the rare, endangered, and unique fruit-eating monitor lizards of the Philippines. Butaan is just one of several races of frugivorous monitor lizards in the Philippines ("Putras Biawak"), all of which are of at least as great a conservation concern as the Komodo dragon, but receive virtually none of the attention. Putras Biawak occur only in lowland dipterocarp forest. The first species (Butaan) was discovered in 1845 and not seen alive by a scientist until the late 1970s. The next species (Mabitang) was discovered in 2001. Other species remain undescribed, and some may have gone extinct without ever having been recognised.
The rusty goanna is a very poorly known monitor lizard from the northern coast of Australia. It appears to be restricted to the eastern coast of Queensland where it is found in mangrove swamps, on coasts and along freshwater streams and swamps (Cogger 1981). Mertens (1958) records them from Woodstock and Coquet Island off Queensland.
Butaan Project 
. All of
our Trailmaster units are beyond repair and will cost $200 each to
replace. 
We use camera traps to monitor butaan populations.We have tried many different models of camera traps, but very few are able to reocrd and photographs lizards reliably. The best model was the Trailmaster 550, which work well in the forest for about 16 months. Sending defective units to the manufacturer for repair has not solved the problems. In 2005 we had 17 working camera traps, currently we have none.
Practical Conservation for Neglected Species
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