Thunder Dragons

Throwbacks to the dinosaur age, monitor lizards (often referred to as thunder dragons) play a crucial role in the food chain of Sri Lanka's lagoons and forests - if they make it through the first year. A mother's role ends with the laying of eggs and hatchlings are left to fend for themselves, find food and keep to the relative safety of the trees. While modern law protects the monitor lizard from being human prey, home is full of threats - sea eagles, acid-spraying ants, snakes and cannibalistic adult monitor lizards.