India GOBengal monitor lizard
गोह (goh)
A heavy grey-brown lizard up to a metre and a half long, basking on rocks and ruins and vanishing into a burrow when approached.
👀 How to recognise it
A long forked tongue flicking, a laterally flattened tail and a slow, deliberate walk. Most active on warm mornings after the monsoon.
Protection
Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
Where to see it
Bengaluru
The name udumbu attaches to the old stories of forts climbed by rope tied to a monitor lizard: a legend, not a technique, but one every fort guide in the Deccan tells.
Savandurga (in season) · Turahalli Forest
Delhi
The goh appears in Maratha fort legend as the animal whose grip on a wall let climbers scale it; the story is folklore, but the lizard's claws really do hold rock.
Aravalli Biodiversity Park (in season) · Sanjay Van (in season) · Okhla Bird Sanctuary
Auroville
Auroville's forest group reports more than twenty snake species in the township. A restored dry forest is a reptile habitat first and foremost, which is one reason the planted areas feel busier at ground level than they look.
Pitchandikulam Forest (in season) · Auroville Botanical Gardens (in season)
Hyderabad
The goh appears in Maratha fort legend as the animal whose grip on a wall let climbers scale it; the story is folklore, but the lizard's claws really do hold rock.
KBR National Park (in season) · Khajaguda Hills (Fakhruddingutta) (in season) · Mahavir Harina Vanasthali National Park (in season)
Mumbai
The goh appears in Maratha fort legend as the animal whose grip on a wall let climbers scale it; the story is folklore, but the lizard's claws really do hold rock.
Sanjay Gandhi National Park (in season) · Elephanta Caves (in season)
Pune
The goh appears in Maratha fort legend as the animal whose grip on a wall let climbers scale it; the story is folklore, but the lizard's claws really do hold rock.
Vetal Tekdi (in season) · Bedse Caves (in season)