![]() ![]() Tourism is their largest income, followed by fishing. ![]() They were originally sent as convicts (does this sound like the plot of Hunger Games?) and have now intermarried. Well I won’t be buying a hut here any time soon, but 4000 people live here. Welcome to Komodo Island Who lives on Komodo Island? But if medical attention is rendered, you still need to survive their sharp teeth and deadly claws. If the prey manages to get away it soon collapses and dies and the dragon can feast on it later. It is believed, even by the guides, that it’s the toxic bacteria that kills, but a scientific study by the University of Melbourne in 2009 dispelled that and proved that there is venom in their saliva. Are they venomous or physically lethal? I had heard that the dragon is so poisonous that one lick of its forked tongue and you’d be dead in 24 hours.I can only imagine how pissed off that would make them. They are also all micro-chipped, which must be a mission! To do that risky job, one lures them into a cage with raw meat and jabs the chip in. There are over 2,200 dragons on the 390sqm Komodo island and two other islands nearby also are home to some.They wear camouflage grey/brown, so we didn’t see them in the trees, and we can barely make them out on the ground. Up in the tree it stays living on insects, lizards, birds and anything else that has the misfortune of landing there until it is too heavy to stay on a branch. It must make it to the tree before its mother sees it or she will eat it. When a baby Komodo dragon hatches it burrows out of its dirt mound of a nest and makes for the nearest tree to stay until it grows up. And on we continued, now laughing and joking and generally losing our sense of alertness. I think when the adrenalin kicked in I would possibly get to that speed too. Good God! One of the coolest things I’ve ever seen! Five freaky facts about the Komodo Dragon I’ve also heard that they can stand on their hind legs and run. But I reckon I would shoot up a tree faster than a firework. Can they climb trees, I asked? Only the little ones can. And don’t run straight either, run in zig zags. Komodo dinner What to do if a Komodo Dragon comes after you?įirstly he would try and jab his crook under its head, he said. Any sudden movements, like the member of our party who decided to sprint to the beach, causes them to lift their heads and hone their beady eyes while the guides leapt up and shouted for everyone to remain still.Įven my swinging camera bag had the big male above begin to make steps towards me until I was told to clutch it under my arm and a guide stepped between us. The Komodo dragon typically lies about lazily like an alligator, but don’t be fooled. Can it get any more terrifying, we exclaimed! There are also poisonous snakes out here, said Hayuri, when we were walking along the dusty track surrounded by scrubby bush. A few girls in our group were scared to the point of tears, but after a quiet word with Hayuri, our English speaking guide, we were assured we’d all be ok. The only thing between me and the dragon are the rangers carrying a stick to thwart an attack!Īnd yes, it is true they can also smell a menstruating woman. They are cold-blooded and take a long time to digest their food and don’t eat every day. However, if I were the sweet Bambi that I saw sitting beside the toilet, I would hedge my bets that I’d make it as the Komodo only needs about 50kg of meat per month. They are not fed here on Komodo Island, they catch their own prey and poor, innocent deer, wild boar and chickens that also roam here are the losers. They can grow to three metres (nearly 10 feet) and can smell food up to four km (2.5 miles) away. Komodo dragons are the largest lizard on earth. All they carry is a Y-shaped stick and stories to spook the daylights out of you. The Komodo Dragon is a fearful beast and you can only visit this island and walk on the trails with a guide. Literally walking around them – keeping a wide berth – and posing for photos like the ones you see of stupid tourists just before they are mauled to death. I spent the day on Indonesia’s famous Komodo Island walking with dragons. ![]() I’m actually crouching about three metres behind him and rangers are standing around with sticks □ ![]()
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