Colorado man dies after being bitten by his pet Gila monster lizard

A 34-year-old man, who had two lizards as pets, has died in Colorado (USA) after being bitten by one of them, which is known as the Gila monster.. This has been confirmed by the Lakewood Police Department, Denver, through an incident report.

His partner was the one who notified the authorities after entering the room where he was with the pets and witnessing that one of them was “clinging” to his hand, Leesha Crookston, an Animal Control agent, reported and CNN reported. .

The Gila monster is one of only two species of lizard known to be venomous, and as a result of the bite, Ward began vomiting several times until he passed out and stopped breathing.. When emergency services arrived, the man was taken to the hospital where he was connected to an artificial respirator and was declared brain dead.. Four days later he died, a Lakewood Police public information officer told CNN.. However, the cause of death has not been reported.

The victim, Christopher Ward, had purchased the lizard last October at a reptile show in Denver when the Gila monster was a year old.. However, she lived with him illegally since in the city of Lakewood it is not allowed to have them.. In the house, Ward also had 26 spiders of various species and the agents have proceeded to remove the animals from the house to take them to an animal park in South Dakota.

Gila monster

The Gila monster is a venomous lizard of the Helodermatidae family that owes its name to the river of the same name since the first species were found near it, in Arizona.. Likewise, this reptile is found between northern Mexico and the southwest of the United States, located in arid and hot regions.

As for its venom, researchers such as Richard Lapidus assure that it is not dangerous to humans since no bite “has resulted in a verifiable human fatality for a healthy person.”