PETALING JAYA, July 28  —  A viral clip of two giant monitor lizards duking it out at a Covid-19 assessment centre parking lot has become a source of amusement to Malaysians online.

And no, they were not fighting over a parking spot.

The pair of reptiles that were locked in a hugging position was recorded in a Twitter video that has been watched more than 666,000 times at the time of writing.

Advertisement

Although most viewers assumed the animals were embracing, male monitor lizards are known to fight over females and territory by standing upright and swaying side to side.

Malaysian social media users had a field day after watching the clip and flooded the tweet’s comments section with a barrage of hilarious responses befitting for the times we live in.

 

Advertisement

 

 

 

Many anthropomorphised the reptiles saying they missed each other after being quarantined for a long period.

 

 

“Hi friend, long time no see, miss you,” @AnaSibawaih wrote.

“Even monitor lizards miss their friends,” added @ainazawanii.

Others hilariously said the lizards ought to be fined for flouting social distancing rules and not wearing a face mask.

 

 

“I suspect they can’t cross state borders, that’s why they miss each other so much,” @razinrhm18 said jokingly.

The sheer size of the reptiles prompted Malaysians to compare them to the King of the Monsters, better known as Godzilla.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some even went the extra mile by praising the two lizards’ dance moves.

 

 

“So sweet, they’re dancing the salsa,” said @mierulsyafiq.

Despite the amusing comments, a couple of nature lovers responded to set the record straight.

 

Native to South and South-east Asia, the Asian water monitor can grow up to eight feet long and is the world’s second largest monitor lizard after Indonesia’s Komodo dragons.

The Covid-19 crisis has resulted in countless viral videos of animals rewilding urban spaces as human beings are forced to stay home to curb infectivity rates.