Monitor lizards wrestle for mating supremacy in Australia

SUNSHINE COAST, Australia, March 21 (UPI) -- An Australian snake-catching group captured footage of two large monitor lizards engaged in a wrestling match for supremacy in a wooded area.

The video, posted to Facebook by Sunshine Coast Snake Catchers 24/7, shows a pair of "big boys" as they "battle it out" in a wrestling match at the filmer's campsite.

The lizards grapple with their front legs and knock into the filmer's disassembled tent as they wrestle.

Jon Scanlon, a zoologist and paleontologist, explained the lizards were likely wrestling for the affections of a female. He said the creatures refrained from biting during their contest because such behavior "is just too dangerous for predators with sharp teeth."

"Wrestling only happens when the males are nearly equal in size, so neither has an interest in escalating further. Also relevant that these are long-lived animals where individuals recognise and remember each other; lethal contests are more likely in species with large migratory populations and short life-cycles," he wrote.