Water monitors are large lizards native to South and Southeast Asia. Water monitors are one of the most common monitor lizards found throughout Asia, and range from Sri Lanka and India to Indochina, the Malay Peninsula, and various islands of Indonesia.
The species is known as a Malayan water monitor, Asian water monitor, common water monitor, two-banded monitor, rice lizard, ring lizard, plain lizard and no-mark lizard, as well as simply "water monitor".
Water monitors inhabit areas which are close to water and because they are cold blooded they are able to survive where other large carnivores cannot.
The diet of a water monitor in the wild, includes fish, frogs, rodents, birds, crabs, and snakes. They have also been known to eat turtles, as well as young crocodiles and crocodile eggs. Like the Komodo dragon, they will often eat carrion.