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“The Komodo dragon, as
befits any creature evoking a mythological beast, has
many names. It is also the Komodo monitor, being a
member of the monitor lizard family, Varanidae, which
today has one genus, Varanus. Residents of the island of
Komodo call it the ora. Among some on Komodo and the
islands of Rinca and Flores, it is buaya darat (land
crocodile), a name that is descriptive but inaccurate;
monitors are not crocodilians. Others call it biawak
raksasa (giant monitor), which is quite correct; it
ranks as the largest of the monitor lizards, a necessary
logical consequence of its standing as the largest
lizard of any kind now living on the earth…. Within the
scientific community, the dragon is Varanus komodoensis.
And most everyone calls it simply the Komodo”.
The Komodo dragon is an ancient species whose ancestors
date back over 100 million years. The varanid genus
originated between 25 and 40 million years ago in Asia.
The Komodo descended from this species and evolved to
its present form over four million years ago.
The Komodo is long lived (as are most of the larger
reptilian species) with an estimated life expectancy of
over 50 years in the wild. In keeping with its
longevity, the Komodo matures late in life, becoming
sexually viable at five to seven years, and achieving
maximum body density in fifteen years. Komodos are
sexually dimorphous, which means males are bigger than
females. The largest recorded specimen was 3.13 meters
in length and was undoubtedly a male. Females rarely
exceed 2.5 meters in length. What is perhaps more
important, is that the characteristic bulk is achieved
by older dominant males in clearly delineated
territorial areas. As an adult Komodo can consume up to
80% of its body weight in one gorging, weight is a
highly variable factor, and is largely dependent on the
most recent feeding. A typical weight for an adult
Komodo in the wild is 70 kilograms.
Komodo dragons are first and foremost opportunistic
carnivores, and predators second. Although the Komodo
can sprint briefly at 20 kilometers an hour, it does not
chase down game as do the larger mammalian predators.
The Komodo is a stealth predator, which lies motionless
and camouflaged alongside game trails for the unwary,
which tend to be the very young, the old and the infirm.
In an attack, the Komodo lunges at its victim with
blinding speed and clasps it with the serrated teeth of
the jaw. Prey are rarely downed in the initial attack
unless the neck is broken or ceratoid artery severed.
The more likely outcome is escape, followed by death a
few hours or days later from septicemia introduced by
the virulent strains of bacteria found in the saliva of
the Komodo dragon (the Komodo survive primarily on
carrion and ingest the bacteria when feeding).
The Komodo has two highly developed sensory organs – the
olfactory and the Jacobson’s - which allow the dragon to
detect rotting carcasses from distances as great as 10
kilometers. The yellow forked tongue is
constantly being flicked in and out of the mouth,
“tasting the air”, and inserted into the Jacobson’s
organ located in the roof of the mouth. The individual
tips are highly sensitive and are capable of
discriminating odors in the magnitude of millionths of a
part. Using the information garnered, the dragon wends
in a seemingly random, winding path which becomes
straighter the closer it approaches to the carrion. The
Komodo is typically a communal feeder and any number of
dragons might arrive at the site of the carcass.
Socialization occurs during feeding at carrion sites, as
does mating. The abdomen is slashed first and the
intestines and stomach contents scattered. Young
juveniles roll in the fecal matter to mask their scent
from aggressive adults, which attack and sometimes kill
juveniles during feeding. The dominant male feeds until
sated, followed by other dragons in order of size. While
the dominant male is gulping down hindquarters and
ribcages, the braver dragons chance foraging a few
scraps. Virtually the entire carcass is consumed in the
process– head, fur, hooves and bones. After feeding, the
Komodos become quiescent and approachable while their
digestive tracts are converting the food into fat energy
stored in the tail.
Between the months of May and August, mating occurs at
and around feeding sites. As males outnumber females in
a ratio of nearly four to one, the dominant male must
fend off other suitors before mating. Males will engage
in slashing, biting and bipedular rearing onto the tail,
until the dominant male is acknowledged by displays of
subservience and the vanquished flees. The female is
forced into a prone position while the male tongue
flicks her body, and in particular, the fold between the
torso and the rear leg close to the cloaca. With Komodos,
the male hemipenes are located here as are the female
genetalia. Once prone, the male mounts onto the back of
the female and inserts one of the two hemipenes into her
cloaca , depending on which side he is perched. The
month of September is when a clutch of 15-30 eggs is
buried in a nest dug with the powerful claws of the
female dragon. A typical nesting site is in the
composting vegetative mounds of the maleo birds which
are indigenous to Komodo.
The gestation period for the eggs is eight to nine
months. Hatchlings, which average 40 centimeters in
length and weigh 100 grams, emerge from the nest in
April and immediately scramble up the nearest tree to
avoid being eaten by the adults. There are plenty of
small lizards, insects and mammals in the canopy after
the brief rainy season in January and February to
sustain the juveniles until they descend to the forest
floor roughly a year later. This period of change
between an arboreal and a terrestial habitat, when the
juveniles are a meter in length, is a time fraught with
danger. The juvenile Komodo is just too bulky to safely
ascend many trees, and not big enough to outrun a
ravenous and determined adult. Cannibalism is a fact of
life for this species, and perhaps is an evolutionary
response to the harsh, arid climate of Komodo.
Prey species for the dragon on Komodo island include
deer, boar, wild buffalo, the maleo bird, snakes,
reptiles and small mammals. On Rinca, the monkeys and
wild horses found there are also constitute prey, as do
the goats raised by the local people. On the odd
occasion people are also attacked by the Komodo dragon.
There have been eight recorded instances of attacks on
humans since Komodo has become a national park, almost
all of which occurred on Rinca. |
RINJANI TREKKING INFORMATION
