Wild monitor lizard sparks panic after climbing on shop awnings in Bangkok

Wild monitor lizard sparks panic after climbing on shop awnings in Bangkok

This is the terrifying moment a huge monitor lizard clambered along shop roofs with unsuspecting pedestrians below.

The 4ft long reptile sparked panic after emerging on the metal awnings in Bangkok, Thailand, on Wednesday afternoon (April 29) while searching for food.

Footage shows how it clambered along the roof for more than five minutes before slipping and falling onto the road below, where waiting firemen pounced on it.

Incredibly, on the same day another wild monitor lizard was seen trying to get into a nearby 7-Eleven store as staff barricaded themselves inside.

The creature had emerged from a canal while also desperately searching for food, frantically pushing against the closed glass door - sparking fears that rising numbers of monitor lizards are venturing into urban areas.

Jirapa Malasri, the resident who filmed the lizard on shop awnings in the Onnut district of the city, said: "I saw something moving on the roof, so I stopped to look and realised it was a massive monitor lizard.

I was scared it would fall on somebody below but luckily it was captured.'' The sightings came after British tourist Sandra Roberts recorded a wild monitor lizard swimming through a closed hotel swimming pool - also in Bangkok - on April 25 Footage shows how the reptile had ventured into the area which was deserted due to the spread of the coronavirus COVID-19 and enjoyed a dip on the pool.

The increase in sightings may also be down to the effects of the coronavirus, which has caused restaurants and street food stands to close, reducing the amount of scraps that the reptiles can forage and forcing them to search in busier areas.