Rosenberg's Goanna
There are about 25 species of Goanna. Goanna is the
name given to the Monitor lizards native to Australia. Rosenberg’s Goanna, Varanus rosenbergi,
is a large one. It can grow to about one
and a half metres long, and weigh three and a half Kilograms.
Humans often disagree about things. Reptile experts are no exception. Although I have given this animal the
specific name of rosenbergi, some
people consider it to be a type of the Sand Monitor, Varanus
Gouldii var. rosenbergi.
Range
Rusenburg’s Goanna is common on Kangaroo Island,
but this may be the only place it is common.
It also occurs on the mainland of Australia
and can sometimes be found from New South Wales
to southern Western Australia.
Temperature
Goannas are largely a tropical group of animals, but
Rosenburg’s Goanna is an exception, living in the cooler half of the
Australian mainland.
Predators
Although this animal certainly had some native
predators, its main one now appears to be the Fox. The European Red Foxes probably especially
eat the young Goannas. In areas of
Western Australia that have been extensively baited for Foxes, young
Rosenberg’s Goannas seem to be building up in numbers.
On Kangaroo Island there are no Foxes and there is an average of
about 20 Rosenberg’s
Goannas per hectare.
Goannas and
Rabbits
On Kangaroo
Island, there were enough
Goannas to wipe out the Rabbits. On the
mainland Goannas are a predator of Rabbits, but there are not enough
Goannas to make much difference to the Rabbit population. One of the reasons for the lack of Goannas
and other Rabbit eating native predators is that the Foxes kill them.
Goannas will dig their own burrows, but they will also
make use of burrows made by other animals, including Rabbits.
In the Rabbit control program, it recommended that
after the Rabbits have been killed; the Rabbit warrens be destroyed. This also gets rid of the Goannas.
Then when the Rabbits come back there are less
predators to eat them.
Sources
http://swifft.net.au/bird/index.php?title=Rosenberg%27s_Goanna . | 
