“Hunger drives the lizard to make a second attempt.” Watch brutal BBC footage of an opossum fighting off a huge lizard to save her babies

Monitor lizards are the world’s second largest lizard (after the Komodo dragon).

There are 50 species of monitor lizard and all but two are carnivorous.

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The lace monitor, also known as the tree goanna, is native to eastern Australia. Despite being a large lizard (it can grow up to two metres long and weigh up 14 kilograms), it’s an adept climber.

It uses its climbing abilities to eat the eggs and young of other animals. And in this footage captured for the BBC TV film Komodo: The Deadly Bite, a lace monitor finds a nest full of opossum babies.

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The mum kicks up a noisy defence which initially drives the lizard away. But it clearly needs a meal, as it goes back for a second desperate attempt.

Top image: a lace monitor climbing a tree in Brisbane, Australia. Credit: SOPA Images/Getty Images