A monitor lizard that had ventured out of a park near the Salt Lake telephone exchange was chased by stray dogs through CF Block on Saturday afternoon.
The reptile dashed into the parking lot of the CGO Complex opposite the telephone exchange where a Salt Lake resident, employees and security guards warded off the dogs and alerted the forest department.
Rishi Pyne, a CF block resident who was out for a bicycle ride, was one of the first to spot the lizard being chased by a pack of dogs. He followed the lizard as it ran through the lanes and bylanes of the block before entering the CGO Complex.
The lizard, in a bid to get away from the dogs, jumped inside the open hood of an old Ambassador in the parking lot and got stuck.
Security guards as well as several employees somehow managed to ward off the dogs.
In the meantime, a section of the guards informed a senior government official at CGO Complex who in turn called the helpline of the Wildlife Rescue and Transit Centre in Baisakhi.
Haru Mondal, one of the security guards, said they had formed a cordon around the vehicle and asked everyone to step back and not harm the lizard.
A team from the centre arrived at the spot and used a spring loaded reptile catching device and a U-hook to get the monitor lizard out of the car.
“We had to be careful as the lizard was somehow stuck inside the dashboard of the vehicle,” said the official.
The monitor lizard was then taken to the centre where a veterinary doctor checked in it. “It is exhausted and we will keep it in observation for sometime before releasing it back into the wild,” said the official.
Monitor lizards are found in several Salt Lake parks and green verges, another forest department official said.