Australian Lace Monitor Kept in Residential Home Goes Missing in Saitama; Police Investigating Either Theft or Escape

The Yomiuri Shimbun

21:02 JST, March 5, 2024

Hasuda, Saitama Prefecture — A pet Australian lace monitor, a lizard native to Australia, went missing Sunday in Hasuda, Saitama Prefecture. The owner, a resident of the city, reported the missing reptile to the local police. The police are investigating whether the lizard escaped or was stolen.

According to the police, the man noticed the lizard missing from its enclosure around 11:30 a.m., Sunday, and reported it. The lizard is approximately 80 centimeters long with black and white striped patterns on its body. The enclosure was locked, and there were no signs of forced entry, suggesting that it may have slipped out through a gap just a few centimeters wide.

The Australian lace monitor is a large lizard that can reach a length of about 1.8 meters as an adult. It is non-venomous and generally timid, rarely attacking humans.