Varanus komodoensis (the Komodo Dragon) has a very restricted range – it only inhabits five small islands in the Indonesian archipelago (Komodo, Rinca, Flores, Gili Motang and Gili Dasami).
Komodo Dragons
- Varanus komodoensis probably gave rise to all the dragon legends. It is huge (up to ten foot long) and quite capable of killing humans.
- The bite injects saliva that is riddled with toxic bacteria, and the resulting wound will not heal. Septicaemia (blood poisoning) and gangrene often set in, so any animal that has been bitten will usually die.
- Komodo Dragons seem to prefer eating carrion, but they are quite happy to attack live animals (goats, pigs, and deer) and wait for them to die and putrefy a bit. (This habit gives them breath that has the reputation for being the worst on the planet!)
- Komodo Dragons have a very acute – and directional – sense of smell. Their tongue flicks out, and each branch of the fork carries scent into the mouth. They can sniff out carrion a couple of miles away.
- The bite is very nasty indeed, but the tail is also a formidable weapon – one swipe can knock an adult buffalo off its feet. They are definitely not to be messed with!
Not Enough Females
Although the number of animals in the wild is thought to be around 5,000, there are few (about 350) breeding females. This obviously limits their reproductive potential. Add to this the fact any females unable to find a mate are capable of virgin birth (parthenogenesis), and that all these offspring will be male.
Females can be thought of as WZ, and Males as ZZ. Unfertilised eggs can be either WW or ZZ, but the WW eggs do not survive. This means that only ZZ eggs (males) will hatch successfully. (In nature this probably allowed a solitary female to give birth to males and subsequently to mate with them and found a new population.)
Last Chance To See
Stephen Fry’s series on BBC TV has covered the plight of the Komodo Dragon, and there is an impressive video on the BBC Nature site.
Human activities are eroding the natural habitat of the ‘dragons’, and they are also threatened by poaching and forest fires. Komodo Dragons are not exactly ‘cuddly’ like Giant Pandas, nor key species of a threatened ecosystem (as Proboscis Monkeys are), but surely every effort should be made to preserve them.
Old maps sometimes had ‘Here be Dragons’ marked on them somewhere; it would be a pity if that had to be changed to ‘Here used to be Dragons’!
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