About The Komodo Dragon
Clearly, the Komodo dragon is the primary site seeing feature on the island of Komodo . Komodo dragons, also known as Varanus komodoensis , are actually the biggest lizards of all the lizards that currently inhabit the planet. In fact, Komodo dragons have been noted to grow up to ten feet in length and can weigh more than the average adult human, just over 150 pounds. Komodo dragons are meat eaters and they use their extremely sharp teeth to kill their prey. It is a mistaken idea that the Komodo dragon poisons its prey: in fact, the Komodo dragon actively hunts its prey and tries to kill it with its teeth. The idea that a Komodo dragon poisons is prey is based on a myth—actually it is the Komodo dragon's teeth that are extremely dangerous, not because they are sharp, but because they are loaded with various strains of bacteria. Consequently, if the Komodo dragon's bite fails to kill its prey, the bacteria the prey is exposed to after being successfully bitten by the Komodo dragon will eventually do the killing. Once the ailing prey has died, usually within a seven day time frame of being bitten, the Komodo dragon will subsequently sniff out the dead animal and partake of its meal. Accordingly, this action almost makes the Komodo dragon much like a scavenger, one that is willing to eat its prey when it is dead.
The prey of the Komodo dragon is considerably large: Komodo dragons will hunt and eat carrion, deer, geckos, goats, horses, insects, other lizards, Macaque monkeys, palm civet cats, pigs, rodents, water buffalo, and wild boars. Komodo dragons are far from finicky eaters and they even partake in cannibalistic practices. Interestingly however, the Komodo dragon is willing to share its successful kill with other Komodo. In contrast, when a Komodo dragon remains in captivity, its diet is considerably different than the diet they maintain in the wild. Zoo keepers typically feed the Komodo dragon rabbits, rodents, and chickens.
The male Komodo dragon is frequently larger than his female counterpart and both the male and female engage in mating from May through August. Male Komodo dragons fight one another to win the females attentions, although the Komodo bite is not necessarily deadly to another Komodo dragon. Interestingly, the Komodo dragon possesses strong antibodies against the bacteria that it carries. Female Komodo dragons will produce anywhere from 20 to 30 eggs and the eggs are tended to by the female for a period of nine months. Each dragon is expected to live up to 30 years.
In '92, the Komodo dragon successfully bred in captivity and several zoos all around the world are breeding Komodo dragons. The Komodo dragon is nearing extinction; quite possibly because it inhabits such a small region of Indonesia and there is no ability for the dragon to expand its territory— the island keeps Komodo dragons blocked off from accessing other land masses where they can perpetuate the species.
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