00:03The graze mower is found in the islands of the Philippines. It's mainly in the southern Luzon
00:08area. Right now this animal is listed as vulnerable. They were actually believed to be extinct. They
00:13were first found in 1845 and until the 1970s they weren't seen again. It appears with a lot of
00:20research that they're actually quite common in their range but they're just so elusive that
00:24people haven't been able to see them. The breeding program is run by the LA Zoo and they were
00:28successful in hatching out a number from their confiscated group and we were really lucky
00:32to be able to get one of those offspring here. The graze monitor is actually one of only three
00:40species of monitors that is a frugivorous or fruit-eating animal. They spend most of their
00:45time up in the trees which is really strange for a monitor. They're generally carnivores.
00:50Most monitor lizards actually have sharp recurving teeth that help them to grab a hold of meat
00:55but because these guys are fruit eaters they actually have blunt teeth that helps to pull
01:00fruits off of trees.
01:04He's absolutely closely related to the moto dragon. He's a cousin basically. Right now he's really small
01:10because he's only a year and a little bit old but he's going to grow up to about five feet
01:15long
01:15and be 20 pounds.
01:22Monitor lizards if you look really closely actually look a lot like dinosaurs. They have that focus and attention.
01:28So monitor lizards pay attention all the time and they just use all of their instincts to get through
01:33life. So aloe guy came straight out of an egg and then he knew that he had to go and
01:38hunt for fish.
01:39He knew that the fruit was going to taste good and he should eat it. And it's just something that's
01:44instilled in them.
01:48Working with the braised monitor is something that's really exciting to me. Knowing that there's
01:52only three species of monitors that eat fruit, I was really excited to see what this guy would be like.
01:58And the idea that I get to have him from such a small little size and he's going to grow
02:02up in my care
02:03is really really important for me.
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