The wild variety of wildlife and fauna in South East Asia is a great matter of interest around the wildlife enthusiast and the specialist around the world.
Indonesia is the land of wonders with its rich diversity of flora and fauna. Among all the wonders one of them is Komodo Dragons. They got their name from the island where they were first discovered, Komodo Island. They are one of the oldest animals that have been surviving the wraths and ever-changing pattern of evolution dating about 40 million years ago. They were always known to the locals for a long time and were known as 'ora' locally meaning land crocodile. But it founded its mention just 100 years ago. They were first reported in 1910 by the European explorers when their plane crashed on the island. Some of the breathtaking facts about them are:
They are found in four islands of Indonesia-Komodo, Gili Motang, Rinca, and Flores. They currently listed as 'endangered' species as their population had been significantly reduced by the natural disasters and human activities. They look like a mythological creature straight from the movie, but they are giant lizards. Whenever one visits Indonesia, one can explore these islands for Komodo Dragon Tour.
They hold the record of being the most significant lizard alive. When they are in hunting, they can expand up to 10 feet in length. Their weight is 200 pounds. They are meat eaters and feed upon animals like deer, wild pigs, buffaloes, etc. Though their diet consists of already dead animals, they also hunt by ambushing and charging at the prey when they are nearby at high speed. Join Komodo Dragon Tour.
Their Saliva is extremely venomous. Previously it was thought that their saliva contains deadly bacteria. But Brian Frey, a biochemist tested 2009 that there are no dangerous bacteria present in their mouth. Instead, their lower jaws include venomous glands. Whenever an animal comes in contact with their jaws, it causes lowering of blood pressure, extreme blood losses sending it to shock. That is the reason even if the prey escapes; the giant lizards will track down and finally catch them as it will be weakened.
The creatures are mainly fond of already dead and decomposing body of animals. Their extraordinary smell powers make them track any carcass or living prey even from six miles away. These giant lizards are famous for grave hunting feeding upon the freshly buried human bodies which prompted the locals living nearby to spread massive piles of rocks on the grave.
Female dragons are infamous for reproducing themselves without mating with their male counterparts. By the process of pathogenesis, the eggs in their wombs can fertilize each other in the absence of sperms and lay eggs.
The sad thing is that these adult giant lizards if they could not find any food, feed upon their newly hatched young ones. To protect themselves from their own kind, smaller ones start living in trees and feed upon other tree-climbing creatures. They also smear themselves in their own dung making them as smelly as possible to keep the adults away.
They could devour large animals within one gulp as large as 80 percent of their body weights.