Gray Central Asian monitor lizard: description, size, danger to humans. Known cases of Komodo dragon attacks on humans Varan habitat on the map

komodo dragon- the largest lizard in the world! It is also called the Indonesian monitor lizard, and some individuals are simply amazing in their size. monitor lizard can reach a length of 3 meters and a weight of 80-85 kg. One such representative is listed in the Guinness Red Book, weighing 91.7 kg from Komodo Island. Where does this one live? huge lizard And what does it eat in nature? How long can live? This is what we will talk about today, let's start with the life expectancy of a monitor lizard.

How long does a Komodo dragon live?

Komodo dragons, as a rule, lead a solitary lifestyle, they can unite in a small group during the breeding season or on the hunt. Their activity falls on the daytime, but they can stay awake at night. Huge to hunt lizard goes out during the day, and in hot weather to be in the shade. They spend the night in their shelter, and in the morning they go hunting again.

How many years can a Komodo dragon live?

Komodo dragon in nature can live about 50 years old. It is also recorded that one of the representatives lived for 62 years! By the way, an interesting fact is the feature that the female lives 2 times less, i.e. female lifespan averages 25 years.

Where does the Komodo dragon live?

Komodo dragon can be found on the Indonesian islands: Gili Motang, Komodo, Flores, Rinch. The inhabitants of the island call it a land crocodile. The facts show that monitor lizard appeared more than 40 million years ago in Asia, then in Australia. And 15 million years ago it was discovered on the island of Timor, between Australia and Southwest Asia. Varan lives in areas well warmed by the sun, for example, in tropical forests, arid plains, savannas. During the hot period, it is located near dry riverbeds, hunts in the water, and is an excellent swimmer. Color komodo dragon dark brown with small yellow spots over the body. On the hide small osteoderms (secondary skin ossification). monitor lizard teeth pressed from the sides, they have sharp cutting edges, which allows you to open large prey. Likewise, on paws you can see long claws that help to hunt.

NUTRITION AND INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT KOMODOS

What does Komodo dragon eat?

Juveniles feed on snakes, birds, civets. They have no enemies as such in nature, except for humans, their relatives and combed crocodiles. Same way, komodo dragon willingly feeds on insects, fish, rats, sea ​​turtles, lizards, livestock, cats and dogs, baby crocodiles. More large individuals in 50 kg they hunt deer, wild boars. Scientists have proven that not only sharp teeth and long claws help in hunting, how much poison is in the mouth lizards and bacteria that cause a rapid inflammatory process in the victim.

Interesting facts about the Komodo dragon

1. Long and forked tongue allows you to capture the scent of the victim

2.monitor lizard bites the victim and waits for it to die from blood poisoning

3. At one time, vanan can eat 80% of its own weight

4. Mating monitor lizards occurs from May to August, the female can lay about 30 eggs

5.monitor lizards have excellent eyesight, can see prey at a distance of 300 meters

6. After eating at monitor lizard the belly grows

7. komodo dragon it feeds not only on living creatures, but also on the skin of the victim, its bones and even hooves.

VIDEO: KOMODOS LIMIT

IN THIS VIDEO YOU WILL SEE WHAT THE KOMODOS LION LOOKS LOOKING AND LEARN A LOT OF INTERESTING ABOUT ITS LIFE IN THE WILD

The dragons of Komodo Island are without a doubt the most stunning animal discovery of the 20th century on planet Earth. In 1912, flying over the group of Lesser Sunda Islands in , a Dutch pilot was forced to land on the shore of a small uninhabited island due to a breakdown. Having comfortably settled down on the beach, the pilot began to repair his plane, when he suddenly felt that someone was standing behind him. Turned around and freaked out...

A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF

Kingdom: Animals (Animalia).
Type: Chordata.
Class: Reptiles (Reptilia).
Order: Scaled (Squamates).
Family: Monitor lizards (Varanidae).
Genus: Monitor lizards (Varanus).
Species: Komodo monitor lizard (Varanus komodensis).

WHY IS INCLUDED IN THE RED BOOK

According to scientists, there are between 4,000 and 5,000 Komodo monitor lizards left on Earth. Why did it happen so? There are many reasons: both high volcanic activity and pollution environment, and illegal hunting of monitor lizards for skins and claws, and tourism. Part of the reptiles die of starvation, as poachers kill animals that are easiest for monitor lizards to hunt. national park"Komodo" was organized in 1980 specifically for the protection and preservation of a unique species.

WHERE Dwells

The Komodo dragon lives in Indonesia, but only on a limited number of islands: Rinca, Gili Motang, Florex and Komodo. According to the name of the last place, the monitor lizard received the name "Komodo". Scientists believe that the species is home to. Presumably, about 900 thousand years ago, the species entered the Indonesian islands, where it successfully took root. These animals do their best to avoid human contact.

HOW TO FIND OUT

The Komodo dragon is the most big lizard Earth. AT wild nature the weight of monitor lizards reaches 70 kg, but when kept in captivity, they can be much larger. The largest Komodo dragon known to science reached a body length of 3.13 m and weighed 166 kg. In this case, about half the length is the tail. The skin of monitor lizards is brownish-brown and covered with light yellow speckles. The color of young monitor lizards is more intense. They have eye spots on their backs and tails, which can coalesce to form stripes. Aborigines often call the Komodo monitor lizard "ground crocodile". The nickname is fully justified by many features. external structure reptiles. She has a stocky squat body, short, widely spaced legs, a flattened head, very sharp, laterally flattened teeth with jagged edges. They help to cope excellently even with large prey. The long curved claws are impressive! With their help, monitor lizards dig deep shelter holes and hunt their victims.

LIFESTYLE AND BIOLOGY

The Komodo dragon leads a solitary lifestyle. He is rather secretive and does not like company. Only occasionally, for example mating season or during the search for food, monitor lizards unite in small groups. The rest of the time, each individual prefers to take care of itself on its own.

The Komodo dragon is highly dependent on temperature. Therefore, many features of his life are influenced by weather conditions. He is active during the day. He spends the night in a shelter, from which, if necessary, he can still go out and go hunting. Komodo dragon - great swimmer. It perfectly overcomes the distances between the islands by water. Juveniles spend a lot of time in trees, while older reptiles are more common on the ground. With its seeming clumsiness, the Komodo monitor lizard is able to reach speeds of up to 20 km / h and get food from a small height, standing on its hind legs and leaning on its tail.

The average life expectancy is 25 years. It is assumed that they can live longer. By about 10 years of age, monitor lizards reach sexual maturity. Males arrange fights for the female, and the winner gets the right to continue their race. The female lays a clutch of 20 eggs in a hole or compost heap. The female remains to guard the nest for eight to nine months, until the babies are born. Immediately after birth, they leave the nest and rush to the trees, where they spend the first few years of their lives.

Who can not be called picky in food is the Komodo monitor lizard. He is ready to swallow anything that moves, be it a grasshopper, a frog or a dog. Its impressive size, sharp teeth and tenacious claws help it attack even such large animals as a horse or a deer. Of course, he is not able to immediately kill the animal. But, inflicting wounds on him, with which poison and bacteria enter, the monitor lizard patiently waits until his victim dies, and only then proceeds to the meal. Do not disdain monitor lizards and carrion. In its environment, the Komodo dragon is the largest and dangerous predator so he has no one to fear.

The Komodo dragon easily moves from one emotional state into another. A peacefully lying and seemingly calm reptile can become angry and aggressive in a matter of minutes. Komodo monitor lizards have been known to attack zoo employees and ordinary people. Therefore, the giant should be treated with extreme caution.

In December 1910, to the Dutch administration on the island of Java from the manager of the island of Flores (according to civil affairs) Stein van Hensbroek received information that the outlying islands of the Lesser Sunda Archipelago are not known to science giant creatures.

Van Stein's report stated that in the vicinity of Labuan Badi of Flores Island, as well as on the nearby island of Komodo, an animal lives that the local natives call "buaya-darat", which means "earthen crocodile".

Komodo dragons are one of the species potentially dangerous to humans, although they are less dangerous than crocodiles or sharks and do not pose a direct danger to adults.

According to local residents, the length of some monsters reaches seven meters, and three- and four-meter buya-darats are common. The curator of the Butsnzorg Zoological Museum at the Botanical Park of West Java Province, Peter Owen, immediately entered into correspondence with the manager of the island and asked him to organize an expedition to get a reptile unknown to European science.

This was done, although the first lizard caught was only 2 meters 20 centimeters long. Her skin and photographs were sent by Hensbroek to Owens. In the accompanying note, he said that he would try to catch a larger specimen, although this was not easy to do, since the natives were terribly afraid of these monsters. Convinced that the giant reptile was not a myth, the Zoological Museum sent an animal trapping specialist to Flores. As a result, the employees of the Zoological Museum managed to get four specimens of "earth crocodiles", two of which were almost three meters long.

Giant monitor lizards are cannibals, and adults, on occasion, will not miss the opportunity to feast on smaller relatives.

In 1912, Peter Owens published an article in the Bulletin of the Botanical Garden about the existence of a new species of reptile, naming an animal previously unknown to the spider. komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis Ouwens). Later it turned out that giant monitor lizards are found not only on Komodo, but also on the small islands of Ritya and Padar, lying to the west of Flores. A careful study of the archives of the Sultanate showed that this animal was mentioned in the archives dating back to 1840.

First World War forced to stop research, and only after 12 years, interest in the Komodo monitor resumed. Now the principal investigators giant reptile became US zoologists. On the English language this reptile became known as komodo dragon(comodo dragon). For the first time, a live specimen was caught by the expedition of Douglas Barden in 1926. In addition to two live specimens, Barden also brought 12 stuffed animals to the United States, three of which are on display at the American Museum. natural history in NYC.

RESERVED ISLANDS
The Indonesian Komodo National Park, protected by UNESCO, was founded in 1980 and includes a group of islands with adjacent warm waters and coral reefs with an area of ​​more than 170 thousand hectares.
The islands of Komodo and Rinca are the largest in the reserve. Of course, the main celebrity of the park is Komodo dragons. However, many tourists come here to see the unique terrestrial and underwater flora and fauna of Komodo. There are about 100 species of fish here. There are about 260 species of reef corals and 70 species of sponges in the sea.
The national park is also home to such animals as the maned sambar, Asian water buffalo, wild boar, Javan macaque.

It was Barden who established the true size of these animals and refuted the myth of seven-meter giants. It turned out that males rarely exceed the length of three meters, and females are much smaller, their length is not more than two meters.

One bite is enough

Years of research have made it possible to study well the habits and lifestyle of giant reptiles. It turned out that Komodo dragons, like other cold-blooded animals, are active only from 6 to 10 am and from 3 to 5 pm. They prefer dry, well-sun areas, and are generally associated with arid plains, savannahs, and tropical dry forests.

In the hot season (May-October), they often stick to dry riverbeds with jungle-covered banks. Young animals can climb well and spend a lot of time in trees, where they find food, and in addition, they hide from their own adult relatives. Giant monitor lizards are cannibals, and adults, on occasion, will not miss the opportunity to feast on smaller relatives. As shelters from heat and cold, monitor lizards use burrows 1-5 m long, which they dig with strong paws with long, curved and sharp claws. Hollow trees often serve as shelters for young monitor lizards.

Komodo dragons, despite their size and outward clumsiness, are good runners. At short distances, reptiles can reach speeds of up to 20 kilometers, and at long distances, their speed is 10 km / h. To get food from a height (for example, on a tree), monitor lizards can stand on their hind legs, using their tail as a support. Reptiles have good hearing sharp eyesight, but their most important sense organ is the sense of smell. These reptiles are able to smell carrion or blood at a distance of even 11 kilometers.

Most of the monitor lizard population lives in the western and northern parts of the Flores Islands - about 2000 specimens. About 1000 live on Komodo and Rincha, and on the smallest islands of the Gili Motang and Nusa Kode groups, only 100 individuals each.

At the same time, it was noticed that the number of monitor lizards has fallen and individuals are gradually shrinking. They say that the decline in the number of wild ungulates on the islands due to poaching is to blame, so monitor lizards are forced to switch to smaller food.

In the photo m A young Komodo dragon on the carcass of an Asian water buffalo. The power of the jaws of monitor lizards is fantastic. Without effort they open chest victims, cutting through the ribs like a huge can opener.

GAD BROTHERHOOD
From modern species prey much larger than itself is attacked only by the Komodo dragon and the crocodile monitor lizard. The crocodile monitor lizard has very long and almost straight teeth. This is an evolutionary adaptation for successful feeding by birds (breaking through dense plumage). They also have serrated edges, and the teeth of the upper and lower jaws can act like scissors, which makes it easier for them to dismember prey in a tree where they spend most life.

Yadozuby - poisonous lizards. Today, two species are known - gila monster and escorpion. They live mainly in the southwestern United States and Mexico in rocky foothills, semi-deserts and deserts. The most active poisonous teeth are in the spring, when their favorite food appears - bird eggs. They also feed on insects, small lizards and snakes. The poison is produced by the submandibular and sublingual salivary glands and through the ducts enters the teeth of the lower jaw. When bitten, the teeth of the gila teeth - long and curved back - almost half a centimeter enter the body of the victim.

The menu of monitor lizards includes a wide variety of animals. They practically eat everything: large insects and their larvae, crabs and fish thrown out by storms, rodents. And although monitor lizards are born scavengers, they are also active hunters, and often large animals become their prey: wild boars, deer, dogs, domestic and feral goats, and even the largest ungulates of these islands - Asian water buffaloes.
Giant monitor lizards do not actively pursue their prey, but rather steal it and grab it when it comes close by itself.

When hunting large animals, reptiles use very reasonable tactics. Adult monitor lizards, leaving the forest, slowly move towards grazing animals, from time to time they stop and crouch to the ground if they feel that they are attracting their attention. wild boars, they can knock down deer with a blow of their tail, but more often they use their teeth - inflicting a single bite on the animal's leg. This is where success lies. After all, now the course is launched " biological weapons» Komodo dragon.

Reptiles have good hearing, sharp eyesight, but their most important sense organ is the sense of smell.

For a long time it was believed that the victim was eventually killed by disease-causing organisms in the monitor lizard's saliva. But in 2009, scientists found that in addition to the "deadly cocktail" of pathogenic bacteria and viruses in saliva, to which monitor lizards themselves have immunity, reptiles are poisonous.

The Komodo dragon has two venom glands in its lower jaw that produce toxic proteins. These proteins, when released into the body of the victim, prevent blood clotting, lower blood pressure, contribute to muscle paralysis and the development of hypothermia. Everything in general leads the victim to shock or loss of consciousness. The venom gland of Komodo monitor lizards is more primitive than that of poisonous snakes. The gland is located in the lower jaw under the salivary glands, its ducts open at the base of the teeth, and do not exit through special channels in poisonous teeth, as in snakes.

AT oral cavity poison and saliva mix with decaying food, forming a mixture in which many different deadly bacteria multiply. But this did not surprise scientists, but the poison delivery system. It turned out to be the most complex of all such systems in reptiles. Instead of injecting with a single blow with their teeth, like poisonous snakes, monitor lizards have to literally rub it into the victim's wound, making jerks with their jaws. This evolutionary invention has helped giant monitor lizards survive for thousands of years.

After a successful attack, time begins to work for the reptile, and the hunter is left to follow the victim all the time. The wound does not heal, the animal becomes weaker every day. After two weeks, even such a large animal as a buffalo has no strength left, its legs buckle and it falls. For the monitor lizard, it's time for a feast. He slowly approaches the victim and rushes at her. At the smell of blood, his relatives come running. In places of feeding, fights often arise between equal males. As a rule, they are cruel, but not deadly, as evidenced by the numerous scars on their bodies.

Who is next?

For people, a huge head covered like a shell, with unkind, unblinking eyes, a toothy gaping mouth, from which a forked tongue protrudes, all the time in motion, a bumpy and folded body of a dark brown color on strong spread legs with long claws and a massive tail is a living embodiment of the image of extinct monsters of distant eras. One can only be amazed at how such creatures could survive today practically unchanged.

The only known representative of large reptiles - Megalania prisca sizes from 5 to 7 m and weighing 650-700 kg

Paleontologists believe that 5-10 million years ago the ancestors of the Komodo dragon appeared in Australia. This assumption fits well with the fact that the only known representative of large reptiles is Megalania prisca measuring from 5 to 7 m and weighing 650-700 kg was found on this continent. Megalania, and the full name of the monstrous reptile can be translated from Latin as “the great ancient tramp”, preferred, like the Komodo monitor lizard, to settle in grassy savannahs and sparse forests, where he hunted mammals, including very large ones, such as diprodonts, various reptiles and birds. These were the largest poisonous creatures that ever existed on Earth.

Fortunately, these animals died out, but the Komodo dragon took their place, and now it is these reptiles that attract thousands of people to come to forgotten by time islands to see vivo last representatives ancient world.

There are 17,504 islands in Indonesia, although these numbers are not final. The Indonesian government has set itself difficult task- to carry out a complete audit of all the Indonesian islands without exception. And who knows, maybe at the end of it there will still be open known to people animals, although not as dangerous as Komodo dragons, but certainly no less amazing!

website - Let's dream together, today it will surprise you with facts about ancient lizard planets. Dragon from Komodo Island, have you heard of this? If not, then the films have been seen for sure.

It was these reptiles that became the prototype of the protagonist in horror films. They inspired directors for the most incredible stories.

Giant monitor lizards actually exist: they are lizards from Komodo Island.

Where do dragons live and how did they appear on the islands of Indonesia

There is such a term: island gigantism. This is such a phenomenon of nature: in a closed and isolated space, from generation to generation, animals increase in size.

Almost like in the movie "Jurassic Park", but there scientists have created suitable conditions. What happened in Indonesia naturally. Although the theory is quite controversial.

A long time ago in Australia (an isolated continent) and on the island of Java, huge predators lived and lived - giant monitor lizards. This is the home of dragons. The oldest fossilized remains of them date back almost 4 million years ago. The extinction that befell many animal species during the Pleistocene era did not affect Komodo dragons.

How did the lizards survive?

They changed their location in a timely manner and took root on the islands of Indonesia closest to the continent. The ocean went up and down. Continents moved, and they calmly waited on the islands. This helped save the lizards from extinction. So they ended up on the island of Flores and nearby.

The giant monitor lizard lives only on five Indonesian islands - Komodo, Rinka, Flores, Gili Motang and Padar.

What do lizards look like

They are really terrible both in appearance, and in scaly skin, and in a forked tongue, like that of a snake. They can reach up to 80, and sometimes up to 100 kilograms. Possess venomous bites, allowing them to hunt and kill large animals and sometimes even humans. But first things first.

Dark terracotta skin has many protective lamellar ossifications. This is a kind of armor of the "ground crocodile". The average pangolin is not too huge: the weight is only 50 kilograms and up to 3 meters in length. Sometimes there are instances that want to get into the book of records and much more.

Komodo dragons have no direct predators.

Singles for life

Komodo dragons are solitary predators. Gather in groups only for a period mating games and during big hunts(there are some).

They live in deep burrows up to 4-5 meters or in hollows of trees (mainly young people). Everything is like people. Life expectancy up to 45-50 years. Young monitor lizards easily climb trees.

A direct threat to their lives can only be big crocodiles and people.

Sprinters in the jungle

Despite the outward sluggishness, these are capable of a lightning attack from an ambush. Do not underestimate their abilities. In terms of speed of movement, he can compete with a sprinter over short distances. Develops speed up to 20 km / h.

A special hole under the tongue allows him to move and breathe at the same time while running. The pump pumps air and does not take strength in the pursuit, increasing endurance and chances of winning.

What do Komodo lizards eat?

Lizard predators. The favorite meal is meat. And it doesn't really matter whose. Large or small animal, fish, turtle or large insect. They can also eat a relative for lunch. They do not disdain their own holes with cubs to tear and feast on. In the video below, you can see how he feasts on snake eggs.

Often, during the hungry period, fresh and not very graves are torn open and corpses are eaten. Therefore, the inhabitants of the islands (Indonesians) bury their inhabitants, covering the graves with cement slabs.

Rules of the hunt - the victim has no chance

Like crocodiles, giant monitor lizards severely injure their prey with their first bite. Tearing out huge chunks of muscle, breaking bones and tearing arteries. Therefore, the mortality rate from their bites is 99%. The victims have virtually no chance of survival.

In addition to severe injuries, monitor lizards contain poison in their saliva, which quickly causes sepsis. In the lower jaw of a mammal there are 2 poisonous glands through which the poison enters.

Photos of the Komodo dragon only confirm the speculation about extinct dinosaurs.

Sharp teeth rip open prey like a can opener

Unusual ability to reproduce without fertilization

The lizard population is 3:1, there are many times more males than females. Which makes the battle for the female a deadly tournament of the strongest.

They lay up to 20 eggs in deep burrows. For the whole 9 months, the female guards the nest with offspring. Up to 2 years, young individuals live in the crowns of trees.

These reptiles have an ability: parthenogenesis. Reproduction is sexual and non-sexual. Oocytes develop easily even without direct fertilization.

In case of storms and earthquakes. Females can reproduce without males.

Toxic monitor lizard saliva

The venom slows the victim's blood clotting, causes muscle paralysis, dramatically lowers blood pressure and causes hypothermia, followed by shock and loss of consciousness. This allows the predator to easily finish off and eat the unfortunate.

The toxicity of saliva helps the predators themselves digest food faster.

Thanks to a good sense of smell and smell, the direction to the victim is easily determined by the smell of blood within a radius of 5-9 kilometers. The forked tongue also contributes to this.

For one lunch, they can eat meat up to 85% of their own body weight. The stomach tends to stretch a lot.

The high immunity of Komodo monitor lizards allows them to survive in adverse conditions with minimal losses

Way to have a quick lunch

For faster swallowing of prey, they invented an unusual method.

They rest the victim against a tree or a large stone and pull their body against it, fixing themselves with their paws.

They react sharply even to the faint smell of blood. There are known cases of attacks on tourists with minor scratches on the arms or legs.

The high immunity of Komodo monitor lizards allows them to survive in adverse conditions with minimal losses.

For a long time it was assumed that the saliva of lizards contains a large number of pathogenic bacteria and microorganisms. Until 2009, it was thought so, until studies by Brian Fry proved that the venom of lizards is not as toxic and poisonous as that of snakes.

React sharply even to the slightest smell of blood

Unusual strategy in dragon hunting

The jaws of the lizard are not as strong as those of the closest relative of the crocodile. And noticeably lose in newtons. 2600 N against almost 7,000 N of a crocodile. The monitor lizard has a much weaker grip, so it is used unusual strategy attacks.

As we already wrote in the article, they tear their prey by making chaotic head movements. Waving in all directions, finishing off the unfortunate and dragging him into the water.

The lizards have a different tactic: having tightly grabbed the animal, they begin to pull it in their direction, resting on powerful paws and helping with long claws.

Sharp teeth rip open prey like a can opener. They tear off pieces of flesh and inflict mortal wounds. Furious jerks and neck rotations allow inflicting wounds incompatible with life.
In such a fight, there is only one winner - a monitor lizard from Komodo Island.

Video: 8 facts about the Komodo dragon

They do not have direct predators (by the way, humans also do not), and now they feel quite at ease. As if they are waiting for the right moment to lead the hierarchy. True, they do not increase in size. Maybe it's for now?

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Dragon from Komodo Island Varanus komodoensis), he is a Komodo monitor lizard, he is also a giant Indonesian monitor lizard - this is a lizard with the most impressive dimensions in the world.

flickr/Antoni Sesen

The average weight of the giant is 90 kg, and the body length, respectively, is 2.5 m, while the tail occupies almost half of the body. And the length of the most powerful specimen, the parameters of which were officially recorded, exceeded 3 meters and weighed 160 kg.

The appearance of the Komodo monitor lizard is the most interesting - either a lizard, or a dragon, or a dinosaur. And the island natives believe that most of all this creature looks like an alligator, and therefore they call it buaya darat, which in translation from the local dialect means a terrestrial crocodile. And although the Komodo dragon has only one head and does not spew sheaves of flame from its nostrils, there is undoubtedly something aggressive in the appearance of this reptile.

This impression is reinforced by the color of the monitor lizard - dark brown, with yellowish patches, and (especially!) appearance teeth - squeezed from the sides, with cutting, jagged edges. A cursory glance at this perfect arsenal, which is a “dragon” jaw, is enough to understand: jokes are bad with the Komodo dragon. With over 60 teeth and a jaw structure reminiscent of a shark's mouth, isn't this the perfect killing machine?

What is the diet of a giant reptile? No, no, monitor lizards have only superficial resemblance to vegetarian dinosaurs: the gastronomic preferences of the Komodo dragon are strikingly different from food preferences ancient ancestor. The tastes of the lizard are distinguished by an enviable variety: it does not disdain carrion and readily absorbs any living creature - from insects and birds to horses, buffaloes, deer and even its own brethren. Perhaps it is for this reason that newborn lizards, having barely hatched, immediately leave their mother, hiding from her in the dense canopy of trees?

Indeed, cannibalism is a quite common phenomenon among Komodo dragons: the lunch menu of adult monitor lizards often includes young relatives, smaller in size. A hungry monitor lizard can also pose a threat to humans, and it is not uncommon for prey to match the attacker in its weight category. How do the lizards manage to prevail over the victim? big booty monitor lizards track down from an ambush, and at the moment of attack they either knock down the victim with a powerful blow of the tail, breaking its legs, or bite into the flesh of a wild boar or deer with their teeth, inflicting a deadly laceration.

The chances of survival for a wounded animal are scanty, because during a bite, dangerous bacteria from the lizard's mouth, as well as poison from the poisonous glands of the reptile's lower jaw, enter its body. Inflammation develops at an accelerated pace, and the only thing left for the Komodo dragon is to wait until the victim completely loses his strength and cannot resist. He stubbornly follows the wounded prey, not losing sight of it. Sometimes such tracking lasts up to three weeks - after so much time, a buffalo bitten by a monitor lizard dies.

In the photo, I am a dragon and a slightly excited Lera :)

Those wishing to see such handsome men in natural environment habitation would have to go to the Indonesian islands, since they inhabit komodo dragons exactly there. However, daredevils who have conceived such a journey should be as careful as possible: monitor lizards have a keen sense of smell, and even a tiny drop of blood from a minor scratch on the body can attract a pangolin located at a distance of 5 km with its smell. Cases of attacks on tourists have taken place, so the rangers accompanying tourist groups are usually armed with long, strong poles. Just in case.