Monitor lizards feast on mystery animal carcass, possibly an otter, in Ulu Pandan canal

Two monitor lizards were spied feasting on a carcass, potentially that of an otter, in an Ulu Pandan canal.

Monitoring the situation

The 15-second video, posted on the Facebook Group Singapore Wildlife Sightings shows two monitor lizards on the canal floor.

One is distinctly larger than the other, both in length and width. The bigger lizard appeared to be about two metres in length.

The larger one is partly standing on the carcass of an animal lying on its back.

The dead animal appears to be a four-legged mammal of some kind, and from the general shape and size of the animal, an otter fits the description.

However the distance of the video makes it hard to confirm, and the carcass also appears to be distended, perhaps having died some time ago.

In the video, the bigger lizard is tucking into its meal when the smaller one approaches, hoping to get a bite of its own, but the larger reptile turns in its direction and the smaller lizard appears to be dissuaded, crawling away.

As the camera zooms into the scene, what appears to be flies can be seen flying around.

The ciiiiiiiircle of liiiiiiife

The comments on the video were mixed, with some doubting that the carcass was that of an otter, although the only alternative offered was that it might be a terrapin or soft-shelled turtle.

The majority of the comments expressed satisfaction that the "circle of life" was now complete.

One even said that the otters in Singapore now had "population control".

But others cast doubt on the idea that the monitor lizard(s) hunted otters, citing the pack nature of otters and the fact that monitor lizards were opportunistic predators, and mainly scavengers in nature.

This meant that it was more likely that the lizards simply chanced across a dead otter (if it was an otter) and was playing its role of nature's "clean up crew".

Yet another noted an uptick in unexpected carnivorous animals in Singapore and called it, satirically "a non-stop horror show around here".

Indeed.

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Top image via Singapore Wildlife Sightings/Facebook