The komodo dragon
By: Nisha Hussain
Sr. Nillab W.
7A
About The Komodo Dragon
Imagine an animal, about
3 meters long, 2.5
centimeter long flesh
cutting teeth, and claws
about 5 centimetre long.
A large fork tongue, up to
2 feet long, where they
can smell you out, 2.5
miles away from where
you are. Welcome to my
presentation, and meet,
the Komodo Dragon.
Body of the komodo dragon.
Tongue:
The komodo dragons have large fork tongues which can reach up to 2 feet long that
they use to taste the air. The sent goes to their Jacobson’s organ which then
directs them towards their food (they can smell food up to 2.5 miles away), which
explains there swaying gad. They swing their heads back and forth to follow the
scent.
Tails:
In the wild, when komodo dragons fight, they first use their tails as warnings for
the others to stay back. They curl their tails up into an oval shape. Then, with
incredible speed, they snap it out, and it feels like being slapped with a baseball bat.
Teeth:
A komodo typically uses its teeth for hunting. Their teeth are about 2.5
centimeters long and there are more than 60 of them. If they are hunting and the
animal escapes with at least one bit, then the komodo can leave it because their
venom and bacterial saliva will kill the animal in 2-3 days, so then it could smell it
out and eat it. Their teeth are completely serrated and the outside is serrated
about half way down.
Where a komodo Lives
Komodo dragons live on the islands of komodo, and on the westernmost parts
of Indonesia. They are mostly found in the komodo national park, in
Indonesia. Although the place is heavy with trees, an adult komodo can’t climb
one (only babies climb them).
What a Komodo Eats
A komodo eats a lot of meet such as deer, water
buffalo, monkey, snakes, and sometimes even human.
Simply, it’s a carnivore. It will attack almost anything
in its way if it’s hungry enough. It can attack and eat
animals up to 3 times it’s size. Komodos are also
highly cannibalistic, and so it will eat its own kind if
its really hungry. 1/5 (20%) of its meal is another
komodo.
People are lead to believe that if they weren’t
cannibalistic their life span would be smaller because
there wouldn’t be enough food to go around. They
would be extinct, because of dying to fast from a
lack of food.
They usually hunt on trails, where deer, buffalo, and
monkeys like to roam.
A Komodos’ Early Stages of Life
As appose to an adult komodo,
a baby komodo dragon is
steady enough to climb trees.
A newly hatched komodo is
called a hatchling. At about 1-2
years old, it is just referred
to as a baby. A baby komodo
almost never stays with its
mother. The mother leaves the
baby when it’s still a hatchling, and it is up to the hatchling to survive on it’s own.
They usually climb trees where adult Komodos don’t come, so they can survive of
birds, snakes, and other animals including smaller Komodos. When they become 3-5
years old, they come out of the trees and hunt as an adult.
How it is endangered and population
Mainly because of poaching, human
interference, and cannibalism, they have
become endangered. When people died by
komodo attacks, people immediately saw them
as dangerous and them poached them to get
rid of them. They got few in number and the
Indonesian government made a law that they
weren’t allowed to be poached anymore.
Komodo national park was made especially for
them, and people went there and started to
keep them in captivity, such as zoo’s, and
exhibits. They became even fewer in number
as they ate each other for survival. The
estimated total of the dragons is now less
than 5000.
You can see above, that one komodo
is hitting the other with its tail.
How we can save them
Really, there is only one way we can
help them. Leave them alone. Don’t
disturb them by going into their
habitats, and don’t keep them as pets.
If everyone left them alone for about
5 years, their population would just
about double. Some areas where the
dragons go most in komodo national
park are restricted so people don’t
capture them. The Indonesian
government made laws to protect these
animals, and have had allowed only a
few places to keep them for
examination to learn more about them.
Even in the areas where they are kept
for research, the areas are made to
feel and look like their real habitats.
Interesting Facts
1. Komodo dragons were discovered in 1910
2. They are the largest living lizards
3. Some scientists believe that they are related to megalania, an ancient dinosaur.
4. Komodo dragons fight with each other and unlike others, are immune to the
bacteria in their saliva.
5. They can live up to 60 years in the wild, but they can only live a few years when
the are kept in captivity.
6. Don’t let their slow walk fool you, they can run up to 13 miles per hour. Yep, their
fast.