A roughly 1-meter-long lizard that had caused anxiety among residents after appearing around a walking trail in the Gwanggyo New Town in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, has been captured after an 11-day search.

Suwon City and firefighting authorities announced that they successfully captured the lizard near a stream close to Hongjae Library in Gwanggyo Wellbeing Town at around 11:30 AM today (August 22).

This comes 11 days after the first media report was released on August 11 regarding a large lizard appearing on an apartment walking trail.

According to authorities, a worker performing stream weeding operations first spotted the lizard in the bushes and reported it to the fire department. Firefighters dispatched to the scene waited nearby with landing nets, rustled the bushes to lure the lizard out, and safely captured it.

No one was injured during the capture, and no visible injuries were found on the lizard.

Suwon City plans to send the captured lizard to the National Institute of Biological Resources to go through a final verification process to determine whether it is indeed the Nile monitor lizard reported missing.

If confirmed to be the same animal, the city plans to hand it over to a man in his 30s, surnamed A, who previously claimed to be the original owner.

Mr. A appeared at the search site on August 11 and stated, "That lizard is my pet that I lost about a month ago."

The Nile monitor lizard is a Class II internationally endangered species, and importing it into South Korea requires reporting to the government.

While it is not venomous, adults can grow up to 2 meters long and may attack humans when feeling threatened, causing concern among nearby residents.

Meanwhile, the police, who have been conducting a pre-booking investigation into Mr. A on charges of violating the Wildlife Protection Act, plan to clarify the exact ownership now that the physical animal has been secured, verify any legal violations, and review measures such as formal booking and the imposition of fines.

(Reported by Kim Taewon | Video by Na Hong-hee | Graphics by Lee Jung-joo | Produced by SBS Digital News)