Varanus prasinus
Silhouette: Steven Traver · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~50% in a week ~80%
The emerald tree monitor (Varanus prasinus) or green tree monitor is a small to medium-sized arboreal monitor lizard. It is known for its unusual coloration, which consists of shades from green to turquoise, topped with dark, transverse dorsal banding. This coloration helps camouflage it in its arboreal habitat. Its color also makes the emerald tree monitor highly prized in both the pet trade and zoos alike.
It is known as wbl km in the Kalam language of Papua New Guinea. Varanus prasinus was first described as Monitor viridis by John Edward Gray in 1831; however, Gray's original holotype (RMNH 4812 in the National Natural History Museum in Leiden) was lost and the species was redescribed by Schlegel eight years later as V. prasinus using the found specimen. The generic name Varanus is derived from the Arabic word waral (ورل), which translates to English as "monitor". Its specific name, prasinus, is Latin for the color green.
Varanus prasinus is a member of the subgenus Hapturosaurus and is closely related to several other arboreal species. However, this species may be paraphyletic, as V. bogerti was found to clade inside it. This indicates that V. prasinus... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Raja Ampat | 🇮🇩 Indonesia |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Disney's Animal Kingdom | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | San Diego Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Moscow Zoo | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 4 | Prague Zoo | 🇨🇿 Czechia | |
| 5 | National Zoological Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | ZooParc de Beauval | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 7 | Denver Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Dresden Zoo | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 10 | Barcelona Zoo | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 11 | Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden | 🇭🇰 Hong Kong SAR China | |
| 12 | Brookfield Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 13 | Milwaukee County Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 14 | Dallas Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 15 | Toledo Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 16 | Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Garden | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 17 | Berlin Zoological Garden | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 18 | Woodland Park Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 19 | Fort Worth Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 20 | Zoo Knoxville | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 21 | Memphis Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 22 | Singapore Zoo | 🇸🇬 Singapore | |
| 23 | Virginia Zoological Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 24 | ABQ BioPark Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 25 | San Antonio Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 26 | Gembira Loka Zoo | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 27 | Cameron Park Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 28 | Cologne Zoological Garden | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 29 | Zoo Atlanta | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 30 | Budapest Zoo & Botanical Garden | 🇭🇺 Hungary | |
| 31 | Hogle Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 32 | London Zoo | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 33 | Riverbanks Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 34 | Aquarama Barcelona | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 35 | Lehigh Valley Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 36 | Parc Jardins du Monde | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 37 | Reptile Gardens | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 38 | The Living Planet Aquarium | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 39 | Central Park Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 40 | Bali Bird Park | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 41 | Bioparc Fuengirola | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 42 | Gulfarium Marine Adventure Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 43 | The Valley of Turtles | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 44 | OdySea Aquarium | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 45 | Cairns Aquarium | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 46 | Aquarium Berlin | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 47 | Tennessee Aquarium | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 48 | Rákosův pavilon | 🇨🇿 Czechia | |
| 49 | Velemlokárium | 🇨🇿 Czechia | |
| 50 | Bristol Zoo | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report an Emerald Monitor sighting in Raja Ampat on a given day, based on 20 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 24th most-seen of the 33 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 50%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.
July and October
In those months about 40% of wildlife watchers report an Emerald Monitor in Raja Ampat on a given day, against under 5% in February, April–June, August and November–December, the lowest months.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Emerald Monitor sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Raja Ampat, in our data
Raja Ampat is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Emerald Monitor sightings: about 20% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same genus: Varanus
The closest relatives of the Emerald Monitor that you can see in Raja Ampat (genus Varanus, Monitor Lizards) are Mangrove Monitor (about 50%), Blue-spotted Tree Monitor (about 30%) and Peach-throated Monitor (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Emerald Monitor is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Raja Ampat (20 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
