Monitor lizard poses traffic hazard for rush-hour commuters

Feb. 6 (UPI) -- Drivers headed home during the afternoon rush hour in Singapore found their commutes slowed by an unusual traffic hazard -- a large water monitor lizard.

A video posted to Facebook by Lim Ming Kian shows half a lane of Upper Serangoon Road, near the Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway, being occupied by the lizard as it took a rest in the rain about 5:18 p.m. Friday.

Lim said the lizard was moving its head and appeared alive and uninjured.

Kalai Vanan, deputy chief executive of the Animal Concerns Research and Education Society, said group members responded to the road Friday evening, but were unable to locate the lizard.

Vanan said the animal might have wandered away from the road, or it may have been struck by a vehicle.

He said the lizard likely wandered into the road from a nearby nature area and found itself stranded.