For those interested in learning more about the study, here is a link to the article's abstract:
A Retrospective Study of Mortality in Varanid Lizards (Reptilia:Squamata:Varanidae) at the Bronx Zoo: Implications for Husbandry and Reproductive Management in Zoos - Mendyk - 2012 - Zoo Biology - Wiley Online Library
If you message/e-mail me, I will gladly send you a pdf of our study. While it is aimed specifically at zoo husbandry- in an effort to break the "well, this is what we've always done" keeping mentality present in many zoo herpetology departments, all of the information presented and discussed is relevant to private collections as well. I feel that the results of this study are well-representative of zoo varanid husbandry as a whole, which, with the exception of a few zoos, is largely inadequate by today's standards.
Another problem that I have noticed among the zoo sector (and this also goes for the majority of private keepers as well), is that there is little familiarity with current literature on the biology and husbandry of varanid lizards. Case in point, the most recent AZA Asian Forest Monitor Studbook (published in 2010) contains taxon management accounts (i.e. recommendations for care and breeding) that were compiled in 1996! Zoos using these accounts as guidelines for their own husbandry are conceivably employing husbandry and breeding methods that are nearly 20 years old, and missing out on a wealth of information generated in only the last 10 or 15 years...
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