When man-animal conflict is on the rise, people in a West Bengal village co-exist with water monitor lizards. Thanks to their belief that the creatures’ pond is haunted, which besides other reasons has contributed to their conservation.
A 6-feet long Asian Water Monitor lizard roaming freely is enough to create panic among city folks. The site of it may force them to even retreat inside their houses.
But not for the people of Chak Manik village in the South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal.
For the villagers, these creatures are a regular part of their lives, though the monitor lizards intrude into their houses and often upend household items.
It is, however, not clear when the monitor lizards became a part of Chak Manik.
Even old timers say that they have been seeing the lizards since they were young, but admit to certain beliefs that have helped in the sustenance of the creatures.
“We have a pond in our village which we call jom pukur (ghost pond) because we believe that ghosts live there. We are scared to go there even during the day time,” said Panchu Dhol, an elderly villager. “The pond is full of water hyacinth and remains undisturbed.”
Near the pond there is a dilapidated, unused house, where rich landlords spent their leisure time during the British era.
“We believe their ghosts live in that house as some weird sounds of ghungroo (anklets) are heard at night,” said Dhol.
This myth of the haunted pond and house among the villagers has helped the monitor lizards live and breed undisturbed, according to scientists.
“The village is blessed with a large number of ponds. Almost all the households have ponds outside their house, which is becoming a rarity in West Bengal where ponds are being filled for constructions,” said Shreya Bhattacharya, IUCN’s Monitor Lizard Specialist Group member, who has published a research paper on the lizards after a study of Chak Manik for two years.
Bhattacharya who is popular as the gorgel didi (lizard sister) among the villagers, says that the ponds are helpful as the lizards dig burrows on the sides and stay there.
They lay 5-24 eggs per clutch – two clutches in one year – depending on the size of the female, according to Bhattacharya.
“The villagers’ belief in ghosts has been helping the lizards to live freely. Because they are shy creatures and prefer to camouflage among the water hyacinths,” Bhattacharya told Village Square.
The Asian Water Monitor (Varanus salvator) is a lizard variety. In fact, it is the second largest lizard in the world after the Komodo dragon.
The water monitor lizards are carnivorous and found mostly in South and Southeast Asia, including India.
In West Bengal, they are present in the Sundarbans, South and North 24 Parganas, Howrah and Hooghly districts.
They are of least concern as per the IUCN Red list. But it is protected under the Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
“But it’s difficult to know what their population in the village or in West Bengal is because no census has been done yet,” said Bhattacharya.
An outsider can easily get bewildered seeing monitor lizards criss-crossing the sleepy streets of Chak Manik village, located just 20 kilometres from the state capital Kolkata.
But according to the villagers, the lizards also protect them from poisonous snakes that abound in the village.
“We’re blessed to have the lizards in our village. Because they eat the dangerous snakes like Russell’s viper whose single bite can cause death. They also eat rodents that damage the crops,” said Pijush Chatterjee, a local grocery store owner.
Apart from eliminating snakes and rodents, can you imagine that the lizards are also helpful in keeping the village clean?
“I run a poultry farm that generates a lot of waste. I don’t discard them in the open as it might lead to foul smell and spread of diseases,” said Sandhya Dhol. “We throw the entire waste in front of the lizards that gobble up the waste quickly. It helps us keep the village clean.”
Though there is a myth that the water monitor lizards are dangerous, Chak Manik villagers have a different tale.
There have been very rare cases of the monitor lizards attacking people except when someone mischievously tried to harm the creatures, according to the villagers.
“Normally, the lizards make an intimidating hissing noise to scare away humans,” Surojit Maity, a local youth, told Village Square.
“They may lash with their tail to protect themselves if provoked. But an attack with the tail can be very severe and might take several days to heal. A dog died after being attacked by the lizard a few months ago,” he added.
But not all the villagers are happy with the presence of the water monitor lizards.
Some homemakers call the creatures a nuisance as they often destroy their food items and affect their livelihood.
“We live in utter poverty and want to keep livestock like poultry for selling eggs and chicken. But it’s very difficult to do so because the lizards attack the chicken when they are outside foraging,” said Menaka Dhol.
“They also enter our houses and destroy our belongings. They even climb trees and destroy birds’ nests and eat their eggs. We can’t kill them as it would entail punishment by the government,” she added.
But Pijush Chatterjee clarifies that some might not like them, but the villagers’ fondness for the creatures is one of the reasons for their survival for the past several years.
The lead image at the top of this page shows two water monitor lizards in Chak Manik village (Photo by Shreya Bhattacharya)
Gurvinder Singh is a journalist based in Kolkata.
