Gila Monster Ran Over
In recent weeks, there’s been a picture of a man kneeling down next to a dead Gila Monster (Heloderma suspectum) on Instagram and other social networks. In the original post on Instagram by “kyledobash” says
“Yeah, he almost got bit before he ran it over 5 times”.
The Gila Monster is one of only three known venomous lizards in the world and the only one native to the United States. The largest lizard in the US is slow moving, heavy bodied lizard, native to the southwestern United States and northern Sonora is of no threat to humans. The Gila Monster name Heloderma suspectum is derived from the Greek word helos meaning “head of stud” and derma meaning “skin”. Edward Cope, who described the Gila Monster, suspected the lizard to be venomous and this is where “suspectum” derives from.
The Outrage
Thanks to many social media outlets the reptile community and others were able to bring two teenage girls from Clay County, Florida to justice in their gruesome killing of a Gopher Tortoise. They posted a video of lighting the tortoise on fire, stomping it, and throwing it until its death. This animal cruelty act was covered by news agencies nation and possibly worldwide.
Courtesy of Jerry Tuttle
Many reptile enthusiasts made the authorities aware of the Gila Monster killing quickly. They efficiently provided the authorities with email addresses, phone numbers and pictures of the person(s) involved. Jerry Tuttle, Daniel Beck, and other well respected individuals in the herpetology community have offered their time and own money to see that this act is brought to justice. Jerry Tuttle of Zoo Crew has even provided a reward of $500.00 leading to the arrest of person(s) involved. The Arizona Fish and Game have started their investigation and have been inundated by emails, phone calls and the people of the reptile community providing related facts.
The picture seems to be taken in 2013, but there is a 5 year statute of limitation on the killing of a protected animal. The Gila Monster is estimated to be 4-5 years old and the picture clearly shows the tire tracks of the Jeep involved across its body. These tire tracks are suspected to match the Jeep involved. This should be an open and shut case for AZ Fish & Game. Apparently, there is more than one person involved. One of them has been contacted and provided the authorities with all pertinent information of the other. The second person involved lives in another jurisdiction and has yet to be contacted.
Unfortunately, the coverage of this killing has not yet hit the main news stream but we’re looking forward to details to be released by AZ Fish & Game in the near future. Reptile Apartment is in close contact with people involved with this story and will keep the community up to date. We thank the whole community for stepping up to the plate to help the authorities in their investigation.