# Is this story about a pack of giant lizards attacking a boy credible? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 24, 2008, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-story-about-a-pack-of-giant-lizards-attacking-a-boy-credible/474230 "2008-11-24T11:06:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-story-about-a-pack-of-giant-lizards-attacking-a-boy-credible/474230/1 "2008-11-24T11:06:07Z")
[Per this story](http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/news/stories/200808/s2347562.htm?tab=latest) do Laotian lizards get so large that they can stalk and hunt humans?\His mother Lynne Sturrock says her son has horrific wounds and says he was attacked by wild animals. > [@](#): > > She says he had to climb over a cliff to escape from the lizards. > > “He’d said he had never seen anything like them before,” she said. > > “I think they could be related to Komodo Dragons only not as big, but you know quite large because he has seen goannas in Australia, but these were horrible and larger and all of a sudden this group of lizards started chasing him.” ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-story-about-a-pack-of-giant-lizards-attacking-a-boy-credible/474230/2 "2008-11-24T11:13:31Z")
There’s not quite enough information to make sense of the story. He says he was attacked by animals and he says he was chased by giant lizards. Are the wild animals and giant lizards the same? Or was he chased by lizards (quite believable) and attacked by some other type of wild animal? ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-story-about-a-pack-of-giant-lizards-attacking-a-boy-credible/474230/3 "2008-11-24T11:18:10Z")
So other than Komodo dragons there are \*other \*lizards so large they will \*chase a human? \* ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-story-about-a-pack-of-giant-lizards-attacking-a-boy-credible/474230/4 "2008-11-24T11:23:41Z")
If I recall correctly, they have some lizard species that can get quite large in that region of the world. But, the article isn’t clear, was it lizards that caused the injuries, or some other kind of wild animals? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-story-about-a-pack-of-giant-lizards-attacking-a-boy-credible/474230/5 "2008-11-24T11:30:05Z")
> [@astro](#): > > So other than Komodo dragons there are \*other \*lizards so large they will \*chase a human? \* Yeah, it took looking on Wikipedia to confirm my memory, but water monitors, for example can get to be seven feet long. Komodos are in the [monitor](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monitor_lizard) family, so if it looked like, but wasn’t a Komodo Dragon, then perhaps it was something like a [water monitor](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_Monitor)? ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-story-about-a-pack-of-giant-lizards-attacking-a-boy-credible/474230/6 "2008-11-24T11:47:30Z")
> [@astro](#): > > So other than Komodo dragons there are \*other \*lizards so large they will \*chase a human? \* Well. I’ve seen large goannas brazenly approach humans, and said humans then run away screaming while the goanna followed. I’m not sure you could objectively say it was _chasing_ them though. ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-story-about-a-pack-of-giant-lizards-attacking-a-boy-credible/474230/7 "2008-11-24T11:52:21Z")
Water monitors are known to be aggressive. ---
**Author:** ![Acid\_Lamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Acid\_Lamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acid_Lamp)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-story-about-a-pack-of-giant-lizards-attacking-a-boy-credible/474230/8 "2008-11-24T12:53:05Z")
Any of the large monitors can be aggressive towards humans. Besides the Komodo and already mentioned Asian Water monitor, There are several other large, lesser known species that get as long or longer than the Komodo though not as heavy. [Crocodile Monitors](http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.newenglandreptile.com/graphics/monitors_croc.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.newenglandreptile.com/monitor_croc.html&usg=__6H_c-I3mMDVe6UKbhNYUByv7Q9w=&h=224&w=320&sz=21&hl=en&start=15&sig2=CMaNQDyF3Ujrzz_0zngHHg&um=1&tbnid=EupAadR7wQZG_M:&tbnh=83&tbnw=118&ei=TKEqSeKcBKXqedLs1dIC&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcrocodile%2Bmonitor%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dcom.google:en-US:official%26sa%3DX) can easily exceed 10 feet in length and there are reports of individuals at 15 feet. Unconfirmed reports of 19 feet from tribesman in their native range are not confirmed, but are not considered to be extreme exaggerations either. The recently imported and described Black Dragon Monitor also can reach lengths of over ten feet, and may well oust the Komodo from it’s position as heaviest lizard. This species is still in determination of it’s authenticity. I’ve seen a 10 foot individual at Glades Herp breeding facility personally though. [Tegus](http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.hilozoo.com/images/animals/r_tegu3.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.hilozoo.com/animals/AR_tegu.htm&h=216&w=262&sz=16&tbnid=6dEsA6BqFMQJ::&tbnh=92&tbnw=112&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dtegu&hl=en&usg=__dJe60CyggnXaHhESTZCwmtuDpew=&sa=X&oi=image_result&resnum=4&ct=image&cd=1) are known to engage in pack hunting behaviour, and the largest of these lizards may weigh in at 50 lbs or more. I would say it is a credible report, though I’d dearly like to hear a more detailed description of the lizards. It is either a behaviour undocumented in a known species, or a new one! ---
**Author:** ![Acid\_Lamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Acid\_Lamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acid_Lamp)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-story-about-a-pack-of-giant-lizards-attacking-a-boy-credible/474230/9 "2008-11-24T13:03:29Z")
update: (missed the edit window) It is possible that the black dragon monitor is a type of water monitor. Either the Togian, or possibly the Black. Both are exceedingly rare to see in captivity. ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-story-about-a-pack-of-giant-lizards-attacking-a-boy-credible/474230/10 "2008-11-24T13:55:21Z")
> [@Zabali\_Clawbane](#): > > Yeah, it took looking on Wikipedia to confirm my memory, but water monitors, for example can get to be seven feet long. Komodos are in the [monitor](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monitor_lizard) family, so if it looked like, but wasn’t a Komodo Dragon, then perhaps it was something like a [water monitor](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_Monitor)? Yeah, those suckers can get frightengly big. I remember the first time I saw one, I was at Lumphini park (smack in the middle of Bangkok), minding my own business, listening to the birds chirping and what not when on the corner of my eye I noticed something swimming in the park lake. I turn around and I see two frikkin’ huge monitor lizards coming my way. I swear the scene only lacked a mob of japanese guys running away. I have no idea how big they can get out in the sticks, but in numbers and hungry is not the kind of animal encounter you’d like to have.