A striking reptile with a talent for digging!

Conservation Status

Vulnerable species in New South Wales (Threatened Species Conservation Act). At national level, the south-eastern Australian population of the species (but not the species as a whole) is regarded as 'rare or insufficiently known'.

What does it look like?

This distinctive goanna has beautiful markings.  Its body is dark grey, with fine yellow or white spots.  It has pairs of blackish bands across its body from neck to tail.  You can tell it apart from the Lace Monitor by looking for some distinctive narrow, regular bands around the whole length of its tail.

Rosenberg's Goanna also has clear 'lips' and a pale-edge black stripe runs from its eyes, across the ears and onto its neck. Young goannas are brighter and have an orange wash on the sides of the face and body. An adult Rosenberg's Goanna reaches up to 1.5 metres in length.

Where does it live?

While some goannas are expert tree climbers, Rosenberg's goanna is more commonly found on the ground in eucalyptus woodlands and heathland. It makes its home in burrows, hollow logs, rocks crevices and under dense bushes.  These goannas are good diggers and  usually dig their burrows themselves - but they will use rabbit burrows if they find them! Rosenberg's Goanna is generally slow moving, but it will run along the ground if chased.  If it is really threatened, it will climb trees to get away.

They occur in southern parts of Western Australia and South Australia, with isolated populations in Victoria and New South Wales. In NSW it has been recorded from coastal areas around Sydney and further south, and west to Mount Victoria and the Canberra area. In Pittwater there have been numerous records in the Ingleside area from 1993 to 1999 as well as Kuring-gai Chase and Garigal National Parks. The most recent record was in 2007 at Bayview.

What does it eat? Rosenberg's Goanna comes out in the daytime to hunt and scavenge for food.  Its diet include a wide range of invertebrates, reptiles and mammals. Sometimes it will even catch birds and frogs too, or raid their nests to eat the eggs. A large amount of its food is made up of the bodies of dead animals (carrion).

This goanna has a fascinating relationship with termites.  Each spring and summer, the female goanna lays up to 14 eggs inside a hole dug into a termite mound.  The termites then seal off the hole containing the eggs. 

Four months later, the young goannas are fully grown inside the egg.  But it seems they don't hatch until another goanna opens the termite mound again, usually when she is ready to lay her next batch of eggs in the same place the following year.  Young goannas are very hard to find, and it is believed they may spend some of their time living in the trees.

What are the threats to Rosenberg's Goanna?

There are many different threats facing Rosenberg's Goanna. These include:

• Habitat loss and fragmentation as land is cleared to build new homes, farms and industrial buildings.
• Removal of habitat elements, such as termite mounds for breeding sites and fallen timber that is used for burrows.
• Death on our roads. When dirt roads are upgraded to bitumen, traffic moves faster and this is likely to increase the number of goannas killed on the road.
• Goannas are also hunted by cats and dogs.

What can we do to protect it?

• Keep cats indoors!
• Make sure your dog is on a lead whenever you are in or near the habitat of Rosenberg's Goanna
• Keep its habitat safe by not clearing trees, building roads or doing other development in areas that are known to contain Rosenberg's Goanna.
• Keep termite mounds and logs in areas where this goanna is known to live
• Protect our heath, woodlands and forests
• Make sure that goanna populations remain linked to each other. This can be achieved by regenerating smaller sites of woodland and heath that will be used like 'stepping stones' by goannas to move into new territory
• When new roads are built, include elevated sections that can be used by goannas to pass underneath the road (rather than across it)

Updated: 21 Jun 2011