OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — 3 News Now Anchor Zach Williamson continues his weekly series 'Zach at the Zoo' at Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium. This week, he better introduces us to the perentie — the fourth largest lizard in the world.
- “There’s records of them being over eight feet long.”
- The perentie is capable of running up to sppeds of 25 mph.
- Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquairum is the second Association of Zoos & Aquariums institution to successfully breed the animal.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
“If you’re a lizard nerd, this is at the top of your list.”
This is a perentie.
“It is Australia's largest lizard — and the fourth largest lizard in the world,” Supervisor of Reptiles & Amphibians at Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium Andy Reeves said.
“There’s records of them being over eight feet long.”
These lizards are the apex predator in their habitat.
“They are running down anything they can. They’re super athletic and will run down mammals, birds and other reptiles — pretty much anything, including other perenties,” Reeves said with a laugh.
It’s not just its size, speed and strength that make the perentie a successful predator, though.
“He uses that big throat sack basically to pump air to his lungs while he’s running down prey.”
Reeves added, “Every time that tongue comes back into his mouth it’s touching an organ on the roof of his mouth helping him sense what he’s smelling. And because his tongue is forked, he can tell what direction a smell is coming from. He can tell, ‘is it more on this side of my tongue or that side of my tongue.’”
This specific perentie’s name is Steve – named after Steve Irwin.
“He went through a bout of cancer in his hand, one of his back feet actually, so we got our vets on it,” Reeves shared. “In the end, ended up amputating that foot and stopped the spread of that cancer, and he’s been living cancer free for years now.”
As you can see – he has no problem getting around.
Steve is one of the few perenties you can see in the US, but soon more zoos will be able to showcase the fascinating reptile.
“We’re the second AZA (Association of Zoos & Aquariums) institution to ever breed them.”
That’s right – Steve is the father of eight perenties, who just recently celebrated their first birthdays. All eight will be going to zoos around the country.
Before hatching though, they weren’t easy to locate.
“I one day worked for hours digging to try and find the eggs to the point that I had to stop for the day, like, welp we will get them tomorrow,” Reeves laughed. “Quite an adventure.”
“A real easter egg hunt, huh?” I asked.
“Yeah, it is. It’s very tiring.”
No easter egg hunt is necessary to find Steve though – you can see him for yourself inside the Desert Dome.
