---
title: "Nile Monitor"
description: "Varanus niloticus — Reptiles. The Nile monitor (Varanus niloticus) is a large member of the monitor family (Varanidae) found throughout most of Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in drier regions, and along the Nile River and its tributaries in East Africa."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/nile-monitor
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Nile Monitor

> Varanus niloticus — Reptiles. The Nile monitor (Varanus niloticus) is a large member of the monitor family (Varanidae) found throughout most of Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in drier regions, and along the Nile River and its tributaries in East Africa.

- Scientific name: *Varanus niloticus*
- Category: `reptiles` (Reptiles)
- Habitats: `freshwater` (Lakes & rivers), `savanna` (Savanna)
- iNaturalist observations: 6994
- Wikidata: [Q737896](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q737896)
- iNaturalist taxon: [71085](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/71085)

## Names

- en: Nile Monitor
- de: Nilwaran
- es: Monitor del Nilo
- fr: Varan du Nil
- nl: Nijlvaraan
- pt: Lagarto-do-nilo
- pl: Waran nilowy

## Countries with the most observations

ZA (2331), TZ (653), BW (542), KE (517), UG (393), ZM (318), SN (253), GM (194), ZW (167), NA (166), MW (165), BJ (112)

## Summary

The Nile monitor (Varanus niloticus) is a large member of the monitor family (Varanidae) found throughout most of Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in drier regions, and along the Nile River and its tributaries in East Africa. Additionally, there are modern, invasive populations in North America. The population found in West African forests and savannahs is sometimes recognized as a separate species, the West African Nile monitor (V. niloticus stellatus) and Ornate monitor (V. niloticus ornatus). While it is dwarfed by its larger relatives, such as the Komodo dragon, the Asian water monitor or the crocodile monitor…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nile_monitor

## Photo

![Nile Monitor](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/nile-monitor/medium.jpg)

Photo: Marius Burger · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/108905694

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/nile-monitor?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).