Komodo Dragon

Species: Komodo Monitor
Habitat: Indonesia
Status: Vulnerable
DAK Locale: Maharajah Jungle Trek

The Komodo Dragon, or Monitor, is the largest species of lizard on Earth. They are found only on the Indonesian island of Komodo as well as some neighboring islands. In rare instances, they can grow to be 10 feet long and weigh 150 pounds. The critters at the Animal Kingdom are not in that size range. It is believed that monitors have evolved to that size as there are no other land carnivores, such as tigers, on these isolated islands. They are considered an example of island gigantism.

Komodos like all lizrds are cold-blooded, meaning they cannot control thier body tempature, but instead rely on the outside environment. As such, they are more active during the day. They are carnivores with a diet mostly consisting of carrion. At times, several animals may find the same dead carcass which typicall results in a pecking order of feeding, with the biggest, healthiest animals goinf first. It does, also, hunt, using thier sense of smell and smell stimuli to hunt. Komodos are ambusher, a rarity in the lizard world. Komodos in the wild often carry sepsis causing bacteria in thier saliva, but at the Animal Kingdom, that is not true, due to the cleaner diet, so you can thank the keepers for that.

Female komodos lay about 20 eggs in a clutch which are left in a nest burrowed into the ground by the mother. The life of a young komodo is dangerous, many become prey often from older komodos. It is believed that young komodos make up to 10% of an adult komodos diet. As a result, yound dragons spent much of thier time in trees unlike the adults who are ground dwellers.

It is believed there are less than 5000 komodo dragons in the wild, with about half living on the island of Komodo. The biggest concern for the species is loss of habitat as well as tourism. Poaching is also a big concern. It is believed that dragons no longer exist on the island of Padu, with the last sighting of the lizard in 1975.