Ok Scot, you asked for it! Here's a
true and sad story so far...
The Black Dragon,
Varanus sp
In Malaysia, there are 4 known species of monitor lizards and I was always on the lookout for something new. 6 years ago while I was still in the reptile trade I came across a totally black monitor lizard from a very remote place down south.
I have always been fascinated by black monitors and at that time there were only 3 known black monitors,
Varanus beccarii from Irian/PNG,
Varanus togianus from Togo Island and
Varanus komaini from Thailand.
All these are medium size lizards with an svl (snout to vent length) of about 3ft. The one I found had a tl (total length) of about
9ft+. Moreover, the
Black Dragon, (
I had to give it a commercial name as any attempt to name it before its formal description will make it nomen nudum) is
dorsally and ventrally a
solid black. The other species had a
lighter ventral area. It was just not an ordinary animal, its sheer size made it the
2nd biggest lizard after the Komodo Dragon,
Varanus komodensis.
I spent a fortune and collected 86 live specimens. They were kept in my warehouse in a prison like enclosure. I shipped 30 perfect specimens to an 'associate' in Florida. These guys broke their agreement and I never saw a cent. They were selling the animals at $2,000 a head with the big ones going for $8,000. So much for trust.
The academic who was supposed to describe it took a back seat and now time has lapsed and I have not heard from him since even though I tried to contact that guy. This monitor was to be named after me. It would have been the 5th species in Malaysia.
These were among a batch of 24 specimens I loaned to a reptile park. I had to sedate them as they are very strong and aggressive and a living hell to handle!
So when it comes to discoveries there are many pros and cons.
Money, time and effort. I have lost interest in trying to recover money from the guys in Florida. My belief in the Four Face Buddha tells me that
"the sin be upon them".
Even at that time I already had an interest in plants. So, wherever I went looking for reptiles, I checked for plants too. Right now I am reopening my network to search for wild 'naners, so let's see if I can have a
happier ending to my future stories!
