Wild panoptes

[waruikazi]

I was quite excited to see this fella/sheila this morning, would have gone 1.4-5m TL. It's the first large panoptes that i have seen in 5 years or so, since the toads marched into Darwin, and only the third definate Panoptes i've seen in that 5 years. Before the toads you would see them everyday.

It was on the South Alligator flood plain. I had a conversation with well known herper a few weeks back who said the S/A panoptes don't grow as large as other populations and may not actually be panoptes. I guess this photo may put that claim in doubt.

Has anyone else seen panoptes recently within the ranges that have been affected by toads?

 

[GeckPhotographer]

Or the S/A population could contain both.

Also if there are so few of these panoptes adults out there how can the population really be viable, someone may need to do a mark recapture program to determine its size and whether it is stable.

 

[waruikazi]

What do you mean by viable mate?

They definately are in dire straits if that is what you mean.

 

[imported_Varanus]

Nice find, mate, any closer pics? Is it just plain dumb luck that there are a few of these animals still around after the Toad front, any ideas/ guesses??

 

[GeckPhotographer]

By viable I mean that the population is big enough to be self sustaining. So they can reproduce to a level that at the very least keeps itself stable.

 

[Renenet]

Nice shot.

 

[waruikazi]

Nice find, mate, any closer pics? Is it just plain dumb luck that there are a few of these animals still around after the Toad front, any ideas/ guesses??

Nah i was lucky to even get that one. It disappeared down it's drain pipe after i got that. It has to be more than just luck for these guys to still be around, the fellas still alive must not eat frogs and toads. There is no way in hell that they wouldn't encounter toads and you would know that goannas eat everything in their path lol.

By viable I mean that the population is big enough to be self sustaining. So they can reproduce to a level that at the very least keeps itself stable.

Couldn't say really. The toads moved through this area about 10 years ago, so maybe they are still breeding... and i have seen a few under a meter long that may or may not have been panoptes.

 

[DanN]

These monitors are still encountered fairly regularly in New Guinea and areas of Qld where toads occur (and have occurred for a long while now). While there is no doubt they have been hit hard, they are obviously resilient and the species, or Top End population, is unlikely to be extirpated…. in my opinion of course.

 

[waruikazi]

These monitors are still encountered fairly regularly in New Guinea and areas of Qld where toads occur (and have occurred for a long while now). While there is no doubt they have been hit hard, they are obviously resilient and the species, or Top End population, is unlikely to be extirpated…. in my opinion of course.

Cheers mate and I agree, i doubt they will go extinct. But are the goannas seen in other areas definately panoptes? I still see gouldii when ever i spend a bit of time in the scrub but rarely any panoptes on the flood planes and they are pretty easy to spot on the flood planes and grasslands.

How often do you see them?

 

[SteveNT]

I've been seeing a lot of younguns on the flood plains around the Roper but cant get close enough to say if they are panoptes or gouldii. No big ones though.

Camped on the Douglas (above Butterfly Gorge) thursday night and was very happy to see 3 adult mertens and no cane toads. And I was camped on the water's edge.

 

[DanN]

They are what I call panoptes, but I never run after them to get a very good look so... many are very big animals, like what I used to see in the NT before the toads arrived. In CYP I might see 2 a month. Which isn't great by any means, but if I drive from the tip to Cairns I ususally see a few.

I saw lots in New Guinea but this was because people collected them. Also they may not be panoptes.. ?

 

[waruikazi]

I can't say i've seen heaps but i've been suprised by the number of mertens we still get out this way and along the Arnhem Hwy.

What habitat do you see them in? I have alot of trouble picking the two apart, especially animals less than a meter, and usually rely on their attitude and the habitat.

They are what I call panoptes, but I never run after them to get a very good look so... many are very big animals, like what I used to see in the NT before the toads arrived. In CYP I might see 2 a month. Which isn't great by any means, but if I drive from the tip to Cairns I ususally see a few.

I saw lots in New Guinea but this was because people collected them. Also they may not be panoptes.. ?

 

[Nephrurus]

I saw a four foot long one at Fogg Dam last year (probably April?). During that same time I saw several in Darwin (east point?) as well.
I certainly saw more than I saw in the subsequent 6 weeks wildlife survey in the North Kimberley (there are fewer roads to drive up there!).

I hope they're becoming more common and the initial decline is only temporary. They are a spectacular animal.

 

[tropicbreeze]

Driving along you always had to swerve to miss the goannas, mainly panoptes and gouldii. Now you swerve to hit the cane toads. Panoptes on my place disappeared well before I even saw any toads. Same with the mertens. Gouldii only lasted a little longer. So far there's been no return, to my knowledge, although in a lot of areas mertens are being spotted more frequently.

Can't find the photo I took a lot earlier on the north eastern periphery of the South Alligator flood plains of a huge panoptes. Wasn't game to tackle it to get a measurement but it wasn't far short of 2 metres and solidly built. So I wouldn't be too confident about the ones there being smaller.

This is a photo I took in the East Alligator area around 2005, before the toads had really impacted.

 

[imported_Varanus]

They certainly are a spectacular animal, must be one of the apex, terrestrial natives up there. I've posted this before, but this was the most impressive panoptes I've ever seen. Check out the legs and tail base on him! My Neph was 5' 11" in the old scale. East Kimberley, near "Parry's Lagoon".