Thank you, I am honoured by this award!

A hump-nosed lizard is giving a speech

“On behalf of all of Kandukara Bodilimas, as we are known in Sri Lanka, I am proud to accept the World of Nature’s Best Actor award! My species is one of the best when it comes to playing dead and this award finally acknowledges that. My commiserations to the other animals who were nominated, especially the Opossums, better luck next time chappies. I guess that this year there was just something about a large green lizard, with a yellow throat pouch and neck sail who played dead, that the judges found exceptional!”

Fun Facts

“Oh hello there, this is so embarrassing. I was doing one of those pretend speeches. Please don’t laugh. I was so startled to see you that I didn’t even do my usual mouth gape to show the inner red lining to try and scare you away. Don’t worry, it’s only a show my species does, apart from faking death to deal with predators. We’re not dangerous at all. We mostly eat earthworms, and some termites, butterflies, and moths. We generally like hanging vertically on the sides of trees. So I was just doing the speech to pass time!”

Story of the Photo

Endemic to Sri Lanka, these lizards are generally found in forests with high canopies and dense undergrowth. Dilum captured this image whilst staying at Explorer by Eco Team in the Sinharaja Rain Forest.