Perentie
Varanus giganteus (Gray, 1845)
The perentie (Varanus giganteus) is a lizard in the family Varanidae, part of the order Squamata within the class Reptilia. It is a medium-sized reptile, with adults weighing 4.8 kg and ranging from 4.2 to 5.3 kg, and a body length of 62 cm.
Quick facts about the perentie
It lays 1 clutch per year of 9 eggs, which incubate for 228 days, and its lifespan is 19.7 years. Checklists record it in Australia, and the IUCN Red List assesses it as Least Concern, which is not a threatened category.
- Weight
- 4.17 kg – 5.33 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- 56.8 cm – 61.7 cmsrc for Length
- Lifespan
- 19.7 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Carnivoresrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 20 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- desert, shrublandsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 228 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 5 – 13src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 3 yearssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1src for Litters or clutches a year
- Reproduction
- Eggssrc for Reproduction
- Active
- By day (diurnal)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- 1 countrysrc for Countries on record
How big is the perentie?
Photos of the perentie
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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Where does the perentie live?
Countries where Catalogue of Life checklists list the species. Many checklists carry no country data, so the list is often incomplete. It is not a range map.
The perentie is listed for 1 country.
- Listed
- Not listed
The same countries as a list
Listed by: ReptileDB (scope: global), through the Catalogue of Life.
What is the perentie?
The perentie (Varanus giganteus) is a species of monitor lizard. It is one of the largest living lizards, after the Komodo dragon, Asian water monitor, and the crocodile monitor. Found west of the Great Dividing Range in the arid areas of Australia, it is rarely seen because of its shyness and the remoteness of much of its range from human habitation. The species is considered to be a least-concern species according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Its status in many Aboriginal cultures is evident in the totemic relationships, and part of the Ngiṉṯaka dreaming, as well as bush tucker. It was a favoured food item among desert Aboriginal tribes, and the fat was used for medicinal and ceremonial purposes.
From the Wikipedia article “Perentie” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Perentie&oldid=1383124220), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the perentie endangered?
The perentie is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the perentie classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classReptilia
- orderSquamata
- familyVaranidae
- genusVaranus
- SpeciesVaranus giganteus (Gray, 1845)
Synonyms Hydrosaurus giganteus
Other names and names in other languages (30)
- ورل عملاقArabic
- голям варанBulgarian
- гигантски варанBulgarian
- Гигант варанMari
- varan obrovskýCzech
- Australsk KæmpevaranDanish
- RiesenwaranGerman
- Australischer RiesenwaranGerman
- Giganta varanoEsperanto
- Varano gigante australianoSpanish
- بزمجه بزرگPersian
- SuurvaraaniFinnish
- Varan PerentiFrench
- óriás varánuszHungarian
- Biawak PerentieIndonesian
- Varano giganteItalian
- ペレンティーオオトカゲJapanese
- 페렌티에Korean
- Pezmijoka dêwlaşKurdish
- Gigantinis varanasLithuanian
- Tiníléítsoh łikizhígííNavajo
- ReuzenvaraanDutch
- Waran wielkiPolish
- Varano-gigantePortuguese
- Большой варанRussian
- Гигантский варанRussian
- JättevaranSwedish
- ตะกวดยักษ์Thai
- Kỳ đà khổng lồVietnamese
- 眼斑巨蜥Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistITISWikidataIUCN Red List
Relatives of the perentie
Other species in the same genus Varanus.
Komodo dragon
Varanus komodoensis
Asian water monitor
Varanus salvator
Nile monitor
Varanus niloticus
Bengal monitor
Varanus bengalensis
Desert monitor
Varanus griseus
Papua monitor
Varanus salvadorii
ComparePerentie vs Komodo dragonPerentie vs Asian water monitorPerentie vs Nile monitorPerentie vs Bengal monitor
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the perentie?
The perentie is a lizard, a reptile in the family Varanidae and the genus Varanus.
How big is the perentie?
The perentie is a medium-sized lizard with a body length of 62 cm and an adult weight of 4.8 kg, from 4.2 to 5.3 kg.
Is the perentie endangered?
No. The perentie is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.
How long does the perentie live?
The perentie has a lifespan of 19.7 years.
How many eggs does the perentie lay?
The perentie lays 9 eggs per clutch and 1 clutch per year, with an incubation period of 228 days.
Which countries is the perentie recorded in?
Checklists record the perentie in Australia.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles · CC BY 4.0 · v1-2
Oskyrko, O., Mi, C., Meiri, S. et al. (2024) ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles. Scientific Data 11: 243. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-024-03079-5. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.24572683.v4 - SquamBase 1.0 - a dataset of squamate species traits · CC0 1.0 · 1.0-dryad-v5
Meiri, S. (2024) SquamBase - a database of squamate (Reptilia: Squamata) traits. Global Ecology and Biogeography 33(4): e13812. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.13812. Data: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.76hdr7t3b - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Perentie (Varanus giganteus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/perentie
“Perentie (Varanus giganteus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/perentie.
@misc{perentie_2026,
title = {Perentie (Varanus giganteus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/perentie},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}