Mantilla
Warora (Maharashtra), India
Bengal Monitor lizards (Varanus bengalensis) for sale at the Warora market. I hesitated to post these photos because of the obvious cruelty depicted, but in the end I decided to post them so the information is available. These monitors are kept at bay in a way I haven't seen before – even after searching on the web – though doubtless it is common. Their whiplike tails are tied around their necks, and their lower jaws are broken, ?removed, and folded into their mouths. I am not sure why this is done, but I am aware that the Bengal Monitor (a.k.a. bis-cobra; goh-sámp) has long been thought to be dangerous by locals. See for instance this somewhat elitist paper in Nature from 1879: www.nature.com/nature/journal/v20/n519/abs/020553a0.html [June 2004]
Warora (Maharashtra), India
Bengal Monitor lizards (Varanus bengalensis) for sale at the Warora market. I hesitated to post these photos because of the obvious cruelty depicted, but in the end I decided to post them so the information is available. These monitors are kept at bay in a way I haven't seen before – even after searching on the web – though doubtless it is common. Their whiplike tails are tied around their necks, and their lower jaws are broken, ?removed, and folded into their mouths. I am not sure why this is done, but I am aware that the Bengal Monitor (a.k.a. bis-cobra; goh-sámp) has long been thought to be dangerous by locals. See for instance this somewhat elitist paper in Nature from 1879: www.nature.com/nature/journal/v20/n519/abs/020553a0.html [June 2004]