Varanus rosenbergi

1 Heath or Rosenberg's Monitor at Paddys River, ACT

Request use of media

Identification history

	Varanus rosenbergi	24 Mar 2023	CarbonAI
	Varanus rosenbergi	24 Mar 2023	MichE1

Identify this sighting

Please Login or Register to identify this sighting.

3 comments

DonFletcher wrote:

24 Mar 2023

Hi MichE1, If you get the chance, a close up photo of the left and right faces of Rosenberg's Goannas allows the individuals to be identified. Over the years, that will show whether this population is mainly residents (mature RGs are faithful over years to a small home range), or mainly dispersing sub-adults. There have been several records of this species in the last few years in the Birrigai - Tidbinbilla Nat Res area.

MichE1 wrote:

24 Mar 2023

Good to know. We see two regularly at Birrigai in different areas so I’ll try to get the close ups. This one is currently living in a rabbit hole and sits watching the kids at campfires very unphased!

DonFletcher wrote:

25 Mar 2023

Unphased = male. Daytime campfires presumably. In summer they often use rabbit warrens for a few days to weeks. Rabbits leave or are eaten. Sometimes the entrance used by the goanna(s) remains visibly active while the other entrances can be seen to be disused. In about the next 3 weeks they move to a winter burrow which is always self dug, with its entrance beneath a rock. Winter burrows are in places with good solar radiation (eg high on rocky ridge) even if the air is colder. They reappear in about late September. I'm interested to come out to see this one if that would be OK?

Please Login or Register to comment.

Location information

Maps Birrigai
Places Paddys River, ACT

Sighting information

At least 1 Abundance
MichE1 Recorded by
Collections
Reptiles and Frogs Monitors & Geckos MichE1 Canberra & Southern Tablelands NatureMapr

Additional information

Alive / healthy Animal health

Species information

Varanus rosenbergi Scientific name
Heath or Rosenberg's Monitor Common name
Sensitive
Very rare / threatened
Non-invasive or negligible
782 images trained Machine learning
External link More information

Record quality

Images or audio
More than one media file
Verified by an expert moderator
Nearby sighting(s) of same species
GPS evidence of location
Description
Additional attributes

Australian Capital Territory

New South Wales

Queensland

Northern Territory

Western Australia

South Australia

Victoria

Tasmania