This video shows the large lizard witnessed at an apartment complex in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province. (Yonhap) A meter-long lizard believed to be an Asian water monitor has drawn attention — and alarm — from residents who recently spotted it at an apartment complex in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province.The animal was seen earlier this month on a walking trail in Gwanggyo New Town, according to Yonhap News Agency. An 18-second video shared among residents shows the lizard emerging near a wooden deck, crossing a path and disappearing into nearby bushes.Residents have since reported seeing what appeared to be the same large lizard at several locations around the complex. The sighting has raised particular concern because a library is located only tens of meters away and an elementary school about 300 meters from where the animal was filmed.Some residents speculated in group chats that the animal may have been an abandoned pet, though how it came to be roaming the area has not been confirmed. As of Monday, police and fire authorities had received no reports of a large lizard in the Gwanggyo area.The animal is believed to be an Asian water monitor, or Varanus salvator, a large semiaquatic lizard native to South and Southeast Asia.The species is listed under Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITES, meaning international trade in the species is regulated. South Korean wildlife regulations also include the Asian water monitor among internationally protected species for which keeping facilities must be registered.The Suwon sighting comes less than a month after a Siamese crocodile was captured along a stream in Yeoju, also in Gyeonggi Province.The crocodile was found along Soyang Stream on July 18 after a resident reported what appeared to be a pet crocodile. Authorities captured the animal and transferred it to the National Institute of Ecology.Police later identified a man in his 30s as the owner and booked him on suspicion of violating the Wildlife Protection and Management Act. The man told police he had bought the crocodile for 1.2 million won ($850) through an online reptile trading community in 2023 and had received it by delivery.He denied abandoning the animal, telling police that he had placed it in his yard to bask in the sun about two weeks before it was found and that it disappeared. The Siamese crocodile is listed under CITES Appendix I, which provides the convention's highest level of restrictions on international commercial trade.The owner is under investigation for allegedly purchasing and keeping the protected animal without authorization. Police also found an alligator snapping turtle, another internationally protected species, at his home.