A newborn baby boy suffers a terrible fate as his mother abandoned him near a pond in Nakhon Si Thammarat, southern Thailand. To make matters worse, the pond where he was helplessly deserted was home to masses of monitor lizards, which devoured its tiny little body inside the plastic bag he was left in.

On Monday morning, a group of boys who were playing near the waterside noticed a black plastic bag that emitted a foul smell. Upon checking, they saw the remains of the infant with parts of his internal organs ripped out from his chest.

Ten-year-old Nong Ake, reported it to the police who showed up at the scene together with an ambulance crew. Upon their arrival, they began to search the site where the boys found the baby.

According to the police, the baby had been dead for at least one to two days. They believe that the bite marks on the infant's body came from monitor lizards that live near the pond.

Officers are now investigating to find whether the baby was long dead before being eaten by the lizards, or if the infant had suffered a terrible death of being eaten alive.

According to Police Major Colonel Jittakorn Konglhue, the baby's corpse will be subjected to a post-mortem examination and DNA tests to try to locate the baby's family. He adds that they will check CCTVs around the area to try to identify the mother and arrest her at once.

Monitor Lizards in Thailand

Thailand is home to a large population of monitor lizards. These lizards are either hated by locals or regarded as good luck. In Thai, people refer to the animals as 'hia,' which also shares a similar meaning with a native curse word.

Thailand's monitor lizards can grow up to 6.5 feet long and weigh up to 110 pounds. They have forked tongues to aid their senses, scaly skin, sharp teeth, big claws, sturdy legs, and strong tails.

They are swift swimmers and runners. Monitor lizards are carnivores that usually eat birds, rodents, snakes, fish, and other small creatures. They will also eat carrion or the rotting flesh of dead animals.

Monitor lizards will generally run away from people unless they are provoked or threatened. They can produce an intimidating hissing noise and often strike with their tail to protect themselves.

Their claws and teeth can also cause serious injuries, which are prone to infection. Some scientists think that the most significant danger from this lizard's bite is the bacteria transmitted from the creature's mouth.

Other scientists believe the lizard has venom glands in its mouth. However, in general, if you leave a monitor lizard alone, it will go on its way without a scene.

A few years back, Bangkok's Lumphini Park evacuated almost 100 lizards from its grounds because the monitor lizard population in the park was getting out of control.

Park officials then reported that the monitor lizard community had reached nearly 400, with the animals lurking around the park's canals and ponds.