Rare predation event: Water Monitor Lizard preys on hog deer fawn in Kaziranga

Guwahati: In a rare wildlife observation from Kaziranga National Park, researchers have documented a Water Monitor Lizard (Varanus salvator) preying on a Hog Deer (Axis porcinus) fawn — the first such recorded instance of this kind in India.

The study, authored by Saurav Kumar Boruah, Luku Ranjan Nath, Shisukanta Nath, and Nilutpal Mahanta, has been published in the Journal of Threatened Taxa (Vol. 17, Issue 10, October 2025). The authors observed the incident on April 5, 2023, during a safari in Kaziranga’s central range near Kohora.

According to the paper, a distressed female Hog Deer was seen attempting to defend her fawn before the researchers spotted a large Water Monitor emerging from the undergrowth with the fawn in its jaws. The event was carefully documented with photographs, confirming the species involved.

The Water Monitor Lizard — India’s largest lizard and a Schedule I species under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 — is known to be an opportunistic predator and scavenger. However, this is believed to be the first precise record of the species preying upon a Hog Deer, marking a significant addition to the understanding of predator-prey interactions in Kaziranga’s ecosystem.

“Kaziranga’s diverse habitats make it an ideal refuge for reptilian fauna, yet reptiles remain understudied compared to large mammals,” the authors note, emphasizing the need for further field-based research on reptile ecology in the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The observation contributes to the growing body of evidence that the Water Monitor exhibits flexible feeding behavior, having been previously reported to prey on snakes, small mammals, and even kittens in other parts of Asia.

The study credits the support of the Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve authority and the Kaziranga Tourism Trade Welfare Society.