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Where do Komodo Dragons come from
00:00 Mon 24th Dec 2001 | Animals & Nature
A. Indonesia. Komodo dragons, Varanus komodoensis, live in the hot grasslands, savannahs, and monsoon forests of four islands in the south-east of the archipelgo-Komodo, Rinca, Gila Motang and Padar - along with 30 other islets which form the Komodo Island National Park.
Q. So what's all this about their deadly 'dragon's breath'
A. Well, they usually ambush their prey - sometime pretty large animals. But they're not beyond a bit of scavening. And and creature that does manage to escape after a Komodo dragon ambush probably wouldn't last long.
The dragon's mouth can contain up to 50 different types of bacteria that infect the wounds they inflict on their prey, killing the creature within a week. In the main, their diet is made up deer, boar and goat - but they also like to snack on birds, snakes, fish, crabs, snails, water buffalo, horses... and young Komodo dragons.
Q. They're pretty big themselves, then
A. Komodo dragons can reach up to 10 feet in length and are the world's largest living lizards. As for weight, they can top the 500-pound mark - but most are a relatively modest 300 pounds or under.
Q. How long do they live
A. Captive Komodo dragons have lived more than 20 years. In the wild, they probably live for about half a century.
Q. And, of course they're not really dragons
A. No, they're lizards. They're named after Egyptian monitor lizards. Their genus name, Varanus, is a derivation of 'waran', which is Latin for monitor. Historically it was thought that the lizards would warn Egyptians that a crocodile was around and about.
Q. How do they deal with their prey
A. Komodo dragons have got a very impressive shark-like set of teeth. Their 60 large, curved, and serrated teeth make them formidable hunters. And they're able to swallow such huge creatures because their jaw can be 'unhinged'.
Q. How do Komodo Dragons ambush their prey
A. They use their very sharp sense of smell to sniff out their next meal. The Komodo Dragon has a very sensitive forked tongue, which it also uses to detect prey, swinging its heads from side to side to maximise the tongue's effectiveness.
Obviously, the smell of their own breath mustn't worry them!
Q. Are Komodo dragons rare
A. There are probably only around 3,500 of them within the Komodo Island National Park and they're considered a vulnerable species.
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by Lisa Cardy
