Lizards come in all colors, shapes, and sizes – but the
biggest lizard of all is truly a Dragon! Imagine a creature that can bring down water
buffalo, deer and wild pig on a regular basis.
You might think I’m kidding – but there is such a creature on a few
select islands in Indonesia. Have you
heard of the Komodo Dragon (Varanus
komodoensis)??
I was fortunate enough to visit Komodo Island in March on
Holland America’s 2012 World Cruise as a lecturer onboard the ms Amsterdam. Steamy tropical forests, palms, cockatoos
screeching... and real live Dragons! This
would be the ultimate island for a season of Survivor!
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| Courtesy of Bill & Sandi Solyan |
Komodo Dragons can weigh 300 lbs and reach 10 ft in length. They are immensely powerful and can kill an
animal with one bite! They have
teeth very much like those of a shark – with a knife-sharp serrated-edge meant
for tearing, not chewing. But one bite...!? “Give me a break,” might be a suitable
response.
A Dragon wouldn’t give you a break, but I will. Dragon saliva is crawling with so many varieties
of bacteria that one bite is enough to cause septicaemia and death by
blood-poisoning. It has only recently
been discovered that dragons also have venom (see Dr. Bryan Fry www.venomdoc.com), which may help speed the prey’s
demise. Once they take a good bite -
causing maximum bleeding and tissue damage - the Dragon typically takes a “jaws-off”
approach. They wait for the animal to
collapse from blood loss or infection and move in for the kill. A Dragon can swallow a whole pig in 20
minutes (see video). A
Dragon can eat up to 80% of its body weight in one sitting!! A Dragon can sack and destroy an entire medieval
village in 1 hour – hey, that’s not true!!
But you get the point. These
giant lizards are a force to contend with.
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| Courtesy of Bill & Sandi Solyan |
Search for the Dragon
After our arrival at Komodo National Park, we were given a
brief overview of the route for our 1 hour trek. Our group of approximately 20 people was
accompanied by a ranger and his assistant, both armed with sticks approx. 6 ft
long with forked ends. We soon learned
that the sticks are helpful when faced with an overly-eager Dragon. The first Dragon was asleep on the trail...
he was only about 7 or 8 ft long. We
were asked to go around him so as not to disturb his nap. Ordinarily I don’t like to hike off-trail,
but something in my genetic makeup kept urging me to let a sleeping
dragon lie.
Our next Dragon was about 10 ft long and built like a
reptilian 300 lb bulldog. His two foot long
forked tongue flicked the air to get a good sniff of us well-fed cruise ship
passengers. His friends did the same and
we found ourselves in the midst of a small pack of Dragons... five in fact. Lucky for us they were all busy digesting a previous
meal of pig or deer and thought we looked too agile and alert. A previous group had a bit of excitement when
a dragon rushed toward them for a closer look.
One ranger actually grabbed the Dragon by the tail to stop it! And see what I mean about those forked sticks!
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| Courtesy of Barbara Heywood-Chasey |
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| Photo: George Sranko |
Turns out the big ten footers aren’t the most dangerous; the 7-8 footers are the real hunters because they are lithe and quick on their feet. (Dragons under 5-6 feet long hang out in the trees because mom and dad don’t mind snacking on youngsters when they can catch one.) Dragons can smell blood up to 5 miles away... consequently the big ones just hang around until they catch a whiff of blood and guts and mosey on over to take over the situation. Of course, offal isn't too awful -- it's mighty nice when it can be discovered!!
