Editing Goanna (section)

==Goannas and humans==
[[File:Lace-Monitor-Mount-Coot-tha-1.JPG|thumb|right|250px|A goanna at Grey Gum picnic area at [[Mount Coot-tha, Queensland|Mount Coot-tha]], Queensland, Australia]]

===Confrontations===
Like most native fauna, goannas are rather wary of human intrusions into their habitat, and most likely run away (into the scrub, up a tree, or into the water, depending on the species). A goanna is a rather swift mover, and when pressed, sprints short distances on its hind legs.

Goannas also rear up when threatened, either chased or cornered, and also inflate flaps of skin around their throats and emit harsh hissing noises.

Some goannas lose their initial fear of humans, especially when food is involved (or has been previously involved). The wildlife authority recommends not feeding animals while in their territory. An attack can cause serious injury in exceptional cases,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/aug/16/goanna-attack-dog-killed-and-queensland-couple-in-hospital-after-freak-ordeal |title=Goanna attack: Queensland couple in hospital after 'freak ordeal' |newspaper=The Guardian|author=Naaman Zhou |date= 16 August 2019}}</ref> but most authorities doubt that a goanna will direct an intentional attack at a human unless the human has attempted to attack it (or grasp at it) first. [[Indigenous Australians]] who hunt goannas for food consider the perentie to be a high-risk (but tasty) quarry.

Debate is growing as to whether goannas are venomous. The incessant bleeding caused by goanna bites had been thought to be the result of [[septicemia|bacterial infection]], but a 2005 study<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn8331-lizards-poisonous-secret-is-revealed/ |title=Lizards' poisonous secret is revealed |website=New Scientist|date=16 November 2005|author=Emma Young |access-date= 16 August 2019}}</ref> suggested monitor lizards (including goannas) are venomous and have oral toxin-producing glands.

The goanna's hefty tail can be dangerous when swung, much like a crocodile's tail; small children and dogs have been knocked down by such attacks. Often victims in goanna attacks are bystanders, watching the person antagonising the goanna. Alarmed goannas can mistake standing humans for trees and attempt to climb them to safety, which is painful and can be distressing for both human and goanna.<ref>Underhill D (1993) ''Australia's Dangerous Creatures'', Reader's Digest, Sydney, New South Wales, {{ISBN|0-86438-018-6}}</ref>

===Conservation status===
Goannas are protected species throughout Australia.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Monitor Lizards |url=https://www.wires.org.au/wildlife-information/monitor-lizards |access-date=2023-03-01 |website=www.wires.org.au |language=en-AU}}</ref>

===Culture and folklore===
{{further|Dirawong}}
Goannas have a prominent place in the culture of indigenous Australians. This includes totemic relationships, anthropomorphic representations in [[dreamtime]] stories, and as a food source. Representations of goannas are common in indigenous artwork, not just as food, but also as a symbolic spiritual motif. Smaller goannas and the mighty perentie are often considered two different animals when appearing in aboriginal works, as in the story "How the Goanna and Perentie Got Their Colours".

European settlers perpetuated several [[old wives' tale]]s about goanna habits and abilities; some of these have persisted in modern folklore among campers and bushmen. This includes the above-mentioned exaggeration of goannas dragging off sheep from shepherds' flocks in the night. This might even be exaggerated into child-snatching, rivalling [[drop bear]]s (attack [[koala]]s) as a tourist scarer, but probably more convincing due to the reptiles' carnivorous nature and fearsome appearance.

A common tale was that the bite of a goanna was infused with a powerful, incurable [[venom (poison)|venom]]. Every year after the bite (or every seven years), the wound would flare up again. For many years, herpetologists generally believed goannas were nonvenomous, and lingering illness from their bites was due solely to [[infection]] and [[septicaemia]] as a result of their saliva being rife with [[bacterium|bacteria]] from carrion and other food sources. However, in 2005, researchers at the [[University of Melbourne]] announced that oral venom glands had been found in both goannas and iguanas.<ref>[http://uninews.unimelb.edu.au/articleid_3009.html Goanna venom rocks the reptile record] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060824025823/http://uninews.unimelb.edu.au/articleid_3009.html |date=24 August 2006 }}, UniNews Vol. 14, No. 22 28 November - 12 December 2005, University of Melbourne, Retrieved 8 March 2006</ref>

Because the goanna regularly eats snakes (which may involve a fierce struggle), including venomous species, they are often said to be immune to [[snake venom]]. However, no evidence found suggests an actual venom [[immunity (medical)|immunity]]. Other stories say that the lizard eats a legendary plant, or drinks from a healing [[Spring (hydrosphere)|spring]], which neutralises the venom. (This idea is immortalised in [[Banjo Paterson]]'s humorous poem "Johnson's Antidote".)

Goanna fat or oil has been anecdotally imbued with mystical healing properties (possibly in connection with their supposed venom immunity). Aboriginal people traditionally used goanna oil as an important [[bush medicine]], and it also became a common medicine among Caucasians shortly after British settlement in Australia. Said to be a cure-all, and possessing amazing powers of penetration (passing through metal as if it were not there), it was sold among early settlers like [[snake oil]] in the [[Old West]] of North America.

A goanna features as the heroic figure Mr Lizard in the Australian author [[May Gibbs]]’ children's books ''[[Snugglepot and Cuddlepie]]''. A bronze statue of the goanna Mr Lizard has been placed outside the State Library of Victoria.

The villain in the Disney film ''[[The Rescuers Down Under]]'', Percival C. McLeach, has a pet goanna named Joanna.