Illegal Possession and Sale of a Dangerous Animal - On May 11, Investigator Bastedo located an online ad offering a five-and-a-half-foot Asian water monitor lizard for sale. The seller, who initially listed the unusual animal for $1,400, stated he would negotiate down to $1,000. Investigator Bastedo reached out to the seller via email, posing as an interested purchaser, and made plans to meet the seller in Sullivan County on May 16. On that date, Investigators Bastedo and Conway met with the seller while ECO Doroski waited nearby. After taking the animal into their possession, the Officers identified themselves and issued an appearance ticket to the seller for illegally selling a wild animal as a pet, a misdemeanor due to the purchase price. The Asian water monitor was taken to a reptile facility with the required licenses for such an animal.
In New York State, DEC requires a Dangerous Animal License to keep Asian water monitors along with several other species of animals. The license is only issued for scientific, educational, exhibition, zoological, or propagation purposes, not for keeping these animals as pets. Furthermore, there are several requirements for obtaining the license such as proper facilities and caging, insurance coverage, marking or tagging the animal so that it can be uniquely identified, and other criteria. This licensing process helps ensure dangerous animals will not cause a threat to public health and safety, or to indigenous fish and wildlife populations.
It should be pointed out that Monitor Lizards are very dangerous, and capable of killing a person. They do not live in the United States. Never approach a monitor lizard. If released in the forest, they would kill a significant number of species, and could cause the extinction of certain species.
