Ever heard of this creature? A weird name for an animal isn’t it? Well it’s not a “dragon” as the name suggests; it’s a lizard; and that too the largest one in the world!!!
I think one of the most famous instances of a giant lizard being on-screen is from the movie – “Godzilla”. While, the size of the Komodo Dragon is nowhere comparable to the mutant-enhanced Godzilla, it does match its penchant for ferociousness to some extent.
It gets its name from the island of Komodo in Indonesia where it is largely found. The locals gave it the name of “Dragon” because it resembled the great mythical creature of the Dragon.
It can grow up to 2 – 3 metres in length and weigh from about 130 kilograms.
Truly a giant amongst lizards.
Habitat and Existance:
It has often been wondered as to why this creature isn’t found anywhere else in the world and only found within certain islands in Indonesia. The answer to that is the fact that this creature isn’t a very good swimmer, and was stranded on the islands around Indonesia during the continental shift, and hence couldn’t migrate to other places and is now only found in its current location.
Seeing this animal at the Singapore zoo, I found it hard to believe that such a meek lizard could be one of the most ferocious killers on this planet.
This amazing creature was discovered universally only in the early 20th century, although it has existed for around 4 million years. Its reputation as a ferocious hunter is responsible in creating an aura around itself. When the Komodo Dragon feeds on prey, it ruthlessly tears apart pieces of the carcass and devours its meal.
Diet and Hunting Strategies:
What draws my attention more to this creature is the unexpected brute force it applies while devouring its prey. While its usual prey includes deer, carrion and pigs, it’s really hard to digest the fact that a lizard can attack and kill prey larger than itself like large water buffaloes and even humans.
So what else does this creature have in its armoury? A prey might sometimes feel lucky if it escapes from a Komodo Dragon. However, the Komodo’s saliva contains poisonous bacteria that slowly affects the prey by way of blood poisoning. That’s why a Komodo Dragon follows its prey even if it manages to escape after the first attack and calmly proceeds to eat it up.
What’s more? a Komodo Dragon can eat up to 80% of its body weight, in a single eating. Imagine, if any human being can try and do that!!!!
Like all other lizards, this creature also exhibits cannibalistic tendencies. That’s why younger Komodo Dragon’s are very rare to find. Being more agile, they are able to climb trees unlike adult Dragons and this is their escape mechanism.
Although, there are around 3000-4000 Komodo’s in the wild, it is estimated that the number of breeding females is only around 300-500. So, this is a highly endangered species, which might die out if not protected. Moreover, it is present only on a few islands of Indonesia and is facing challenges like habitat loss and mass killing by humans for expansion purposes.
Seeing this fantastic beast in the zoo left me awed and with a fervent hope that I might one day have the chance to see this creature in its wild environs where it truly belongs.
