Lizard life “Little dragon” at the Botanical Gardens
Poppelsdorf · Visitors to the Botanic Gardens who venture into the rain forest may have a chance to see some lizards amongst the exotic plants.
When visitors come to the rain forest of the Botanic Gardens, they get a burst of humid warm air. They see exotic plants and trees, some of them reaching all the way to the glass ceiling. Whoever takes a closer look sees the real stars of the place, green-yellow lizards, one of them basking in the sun.
Altogether, there are five water agamas or dragon lizards living in the rain forest greenhouse. Animals in the Botanic Gardens are actually a rarity. “We are primarily a Botanic Garden and not a zoo. But the water agamas eat insects and are very useful for us to control pests,” explained Michael Neumann, gardener of the greenhouses.
“Whether or not the lizards show themselves is a question of character,” says Neumann. A couple of them can be found regularly at their favorite place. The climate of the rain forest greenhouse is perfect for the up to 50-centimeter long lizards who are at home in southeast Asia.
A half year ago, a green Iguana came to join the other lizards. It is quite shy, which explains why visitors seldom see it. Neumann himself has only seen it three times. Most of the time it sits on steel beams under the glass ceiling, as close as possible to the sunlight. But his hunger overcomes the shyness eventually. The approximate one-meter long animal with the bristles on his back, gradually makes his way down the branches for a piece of banana.
“He looks like a little dragon,” says Janina Lützeler from Bonn. “Scary” is the only word that comes from her 6-year-old daughter Paulina. Her two sisters are just fascinated by the reptile, which blends perfectly into the exotic surroundings of the rain forest. (Orig. text: Christine Ludewig)
