A ancient style painting of a Komodo dragon riding the waves (not accurate of course).-art work done by DragonCid–
When the first explorers discovered the Komodo dragons they described them as Land crocodiles, they are the closest what we could get today to the fairy-tale dragons. They are ferocious beasts with needle sharp teeth and a venomous bite, and has the title of the largest lizard in the world. With its binomial name being Varanus komodoensis, named by a Dutch scientist Pieter Anthonis Ouwens, who was a scientist and the director of Java Zoological Museum and Botanical Gardens. Pieter named it in a publication (1912) after he was sent a photo and a skin of a Komodo dragon from a fellow Dutchman called Lieutenant Jacques Karel Henri van Steyn van Hensbroek (1881-1944) -1-.
The Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis) is a endemic species to the Komodo, Giling Motang Rinca, and Flores which are all Islands of Indonesia. The Komodo dragon is a part of the monitor lizard family (Varanus), they are the biggest lizard species growing up to 3m (10ft), and weighing up to 70 kg (150 lbs). They are carnivore species and apex predators. They eat from anything to small birds to Javan Rusa (a large deer species), carrion, and the adult Komodo even eats Komodo young!
Komodo dragons are naturally solitary animals, if a another Komodo dragon encroaches on their territory they will fight them. Komodos usually mate between the months May and August and the eggs are laid at the end of summer which is September. Male Komodo dragons will fight over a female, by standing and supporting themselves with their huge whip like tails, followed by swatting the opponent with their curved claws, the victor will then mate the female. The eggs are laid in a empty nest of a Megapode, or the Komodos just dig a hole in the soft sand. As many as 20 eggs are laid and are incubated by the female dragon after roughly 7-8 months the eggs hatch. Young Komodo dragons usually spend most of their time in trees to stay safe from predators including adult Komodo dragons.
Komodo dragons are notorious for their salvia and fangs, for several reasons. The number one misconception is that Komodos kill their prey by biting them, resulting in the prey dying because of the bacteria filled bite. Its actually it’s venom which kills, and that is not immediately. Its a process in which when the prey is bitten by the Komodo dragon, the venom causes the blood pressure to decrease, quickens the blood loss and sending the prey into a stupor. The bite only doesn’t kill like some species of snake, but its a combination of lacerating, wounding the animal, and the venom which kills its prey, nature is truly amazing!
Conservation concerns:
Komodo dragons, although feisty creatures face a lot of problems, mainly poaching on their prey, and the dragons themselves. Tourism and habitat loss is also a major problem. The biggest problem of all is climate change; aridification and sea level rise, which effects the low-lying places Komodos reside. Komodo dragon can not live in the higher altitudes of the island. Classed as endangered, the Komodo dragon will soon go extinct if the problems are not solved. The Komodo dragon is classified as endangered on the IUCN’s red list.
Komodo dragons are relatively harmless:
Komodo dragons are dangerous creatures if provoked and cornered, as there were cases reported of them attacking humans.
This is the end of this short post, and there is so much else to learn about these dragons that you could write a book about. I hope you enjoyed and learnt something new, make sure to sign up and comment on the post, so you could get notified whenever I post. Till the next time Assalamu Alaikum
Abdurrahman is a wildlife fanatic who absolutely loves nature and the outdoors, he is regularly birdwatching and photographing wildlife. If you can’t find him birding or crouching behind a patch of reeds taking photos of waders, you will probably find him trail-running or cycling in the closest national park.
Wow, this is very interesting, thank you for sharing the information about Komodo Dragons, I’m interested to read the soon.