Baby suspected to have been eaten by monitor lizard in Thailand, only head found, Asia News

PUBLISHED ONMay 15, 2025 5:07 AMByKhoo Yi-Hang

A monitor lizard was seen feeding on the remains of a newborn baby in Thailand, alarming villagers in the Bang Phli district on Tuesday (May 13), according to Thai media.

Bangkaew Police Station officers received a report from residents at around 12.30pm that day and discovered the monitor lizard with the human remains in its mouth near a body of water along Soi King Kaew 28, Samut Prakan Province, located in the outskirts of Bangkok.

According to witnesses who spoke with PPTV36, residents were resting in their homes when they heard movement outside.

Upon leaving their homes to take a look, they saw the lizard holding something which appeared to be the corpse of a baby in its jaws.

Some residents chased the reptile away, but the monitor lizard soon returned and circled the remains, refusing to leave.

Residents then alerted the authorities.

Officers and rescue workers from the Ruamkatanyu Foundation were eventually only able to recover the baby's head — no other parts of the body nor any clothing were found, PPTV36 reported on Wednesday.

The baby's remains were transferred to the Chakri Naruebodindra Medical Institute for further investigation into the cause of death. No signs of decomposition were reported, according to the Bangkok Post.

The sex of the baby, estimated to have been carried to full term, has yet to be identified. It is also not clear whether the baby was born alive or stillborn.

According to the Thai Enquirer, the infant is believed to have been abandoned, with the site of the grisly incident located near a row of rented homes occupied primarily by migrant workers.

Authorities speculate that the baby might have been abandoned because the mother was unable to care for it, Bangkok Post reported.

The child's mother could face legal action should the baby have been alive when it was abandoned, the police said.