A 34-year-old man in Colorado, USA, died after being bitten by one of his two pet Gila monsters, BBC reported. The venomous reptiles are known to bite, but their bite does not usually kill a human being.
An expert told CBS News that the victim “may have suffered an allergic reaction.” The last human death recorded because of a Gila monster bite was back in 1930. That incident was “not even a medical journal case”, Dr Nick Brandehoff, medical toxicologist and reptile expert, said.
In most cases, a Gila monster bite simply causes some local swelling and bleeding. The dead man, who was not identified, reportedly owned two of the carnivorous reptiles.
Gila monsters, which get their name from the River Gila, a tributary of the Colorado flowing through Arizona and New Mexico, are the largest lizards in America. They cannot be kept as pets in Colorado without a licence. A Colorado Parks and Wildlife criminal investigator said the lizards would be relocated to a wildlife rehabilitation centre in another state.
One comment
Bittu
March 19, 2024 at 1:17 am
It should be a criminal offence anywhere in the world to keep wild animals as pets.