Officers find giant lizard with ‘powerful bite’ in empty Northern California home
.jpeg "Police found a young ornate Nile monitor lizard inside a vacant Alameda home.")
Officers dispatched to investigate a report of a “Komodo dragon” inside a vacant Northern California home probably weren’t sure what to expect.
The officers found a young ornate Nile monitor had been abandoned inside the home by the former tenants, Alameda police said in a Monday news release on Facebook.
The lizards can grow to be up to 7 feet long, police said.
“They have powerful bites, strong claws, and forceful tails that can cause injuries,” police said.
They are “not suitable” for beginning reptile keepers and “are never appropriate pets for children,” police warned.
The lizard is now at the East Bay Vivarium reptile shop, police said.
Alameda is about 10 miles east of San Francisco.
What to know about ornate Nile monitors
Ornate Nile monitors are normally found in West and Central Africa, according to Reptiliana. They live in lakes and swamps near tropical forests.
The lizards, which live about 15 years in the wild, eat snails, crabs, fish, small snakes, insects, frogs, turtles, tortoises, small crocodiles, small lizards and the eggs of birds and reptiles.
This story was originally published January 13, 2026 at 11:03 AM with the headline "Officers find giant lizard with ‘powerful bite’ in empty Northern California home."