They don’t breathe fire, they don’t have wings, but they are most assuredly dragons! And just as the medieval mapmakers wrote “here be dragons” to indicate unexplored, possibly dangerous territories, so walking in the territory of the Komodo dragons can certainly be dangerous!
The largest, heaviest lizards in the world, probably due to island gigantism (dramatic size increase, following many years of isolation), Komodo dragons spend much of their time snoozing in the sun. But don’t be misled by their sleepy looks, they can put on a turn of speed up to 20 kph (12 mph). They are venomous carnivores, with very sharp teeth. They frequently ambush their prey, which are usually buffalo, monkeys, deer, on the islands of Komodo and Rinca, in Indonesia. They are also carrion scavengers. Komodo dragons will frequently eat up to 80% of their body weight at a sitting, therefore they can easily survive on just one meal a month.
In order to make sure we weren’t one of those meals, when we visited the dragons on the island of Rinca in the Komodo National Park to the west of Flores in Indonesia, we were only allowed to visit with a guide, who was armed with a big stick.
When we first went to Indonesia in 2017, we travelled around a fair bit of Flores island (there will be blog posts to come!) ending up in the west, in the town of Labuan Bajo, where we did a few days’ scuba diving, and also a day trip to Rinca island, to see the famous Komodo dragons. Our guide took us on a walk through the forest on the island, pointing out old nesting sites, and monkeys and deer, which are prey to the dragons. Dragons can swim and we saw one crossing a stream:
(click on photos to view fullsize)
We have seen the dragons in the sea, but only just by the coast of Rinca or Komodo. We’ve never seen them while scuba diving. Perhaps the crocs get them first. Or maybe the sharks. Oh well!
On Rinca, they often tend to congregate around the kitchens, they’re happy to grab an easy meal if they can.
(click on photos to view fullsize)
The thing that most impressed me about the dragons, is that they’re pretty stinky!
I wish we had smell-o-vision, so you could fully enjoy this little video:
They are indeed impressive, and a must-see sight if you’re visiting Flores. However, for us, the biggest attraction of Flores and Komodo National Park, is the incredible scuba diving!
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