Butaan start to visit fruiting trees before they are large enough to
swallow the fruits. They make repeat journeys to trees, perhaps to
reinforce memory of the position of the tree. If the youngster survives
it may continue to use this tree for many decades. Fruiting trees like
this are a vital resource for entire populations of butaan. Learn more >
Butaan jump from incredible heights, land on the ground
with a huge crash and walk away uninjured. Jumps to the ground from 30m were
recorded by Auffenberg and our spool and line tracking suggests lizards
regularly jump from heights of 4-15m when they are unmolested. The amazing
jumping power of the butaan is undocumented in any other monitors lizard and
may be one more unique aspects of the Putras Biawak group.
