Komodo dragon, where it lives, interesting facts, photos, videos, food. Komodo monitor lizards: description and photo When monitor lizards appeared on earth

Varanus komodoensis Ouwens,

Lifestyle

Komodo dragons lead a solitary lifestyle, uniting in non-permanent groups during feeding and during the breeding season.

komodo dragon prefers dry, well-warmed areas, and tends to live in arid plains, savannahs, and dry tropical forests, at low altitude. In the hot season (May-October) it adheres to dry riverbeds with jungle-covered banks. Often comes ashore in search of carrion washed ashore. willingly enters sea ​​water, swims well and can even swim across to a neighboring island, overcoming a considerable distance.

When running over short distances, the monitor lizard is able to reach speeds of up to 20 km / h. To get food at a height (for example, on a tree), it can stand on its hind legs, using its tail as a support. Young animals climb well and spend a lot of time in trees.

Monitor lizards use burrows 1-5 m long as shelters, which they dig with the help of strong paws with long, curved and sharp claws. Hollow trees serve as a refuge for young monitor lizards.

AT wild nature adults do not have natural enemies. Young monitor lizards are eaten by snakes, civets and birds of prey.

The natural lifespan of monitor lizards in nature is probably around 50 years. In captivity, no cases have been noted so far that the Komodo monitor lizard has lived for more than 25 years.

Food

Young Komodo dragon near the carcass of an Asian water buffalo

Monitor lizards feed on a wide variety of animals - both vertebrates and invertebrates. They may eat insects (mainly orthoptera), crabs, fish, sea turtles, lizards, snakes, birds, mice and rats, civets, deer, wild boars, feral dogs, goats, buffalo and horses.

Cannibalism is common among Komodo monitor lizards, especially in famine years: adults often eat young and smaller monitor lizards.

On the islands inhabited by Komodo monitors, there are no predators larger than them, so adult monitor lizards are at the top of the food chain. On relatively big booty they hunt from ambush, sometimes knocking down the victim with blows of a powerful tail, often breaking the legs of the victim. large adults komodo dragons feed mainly on carrion, however, they often receive this carrion in an unusual way. So, having tracked down a deer, a wild boar or a buffalo in the bushes, the monitor lizard attacks and seeks to inflict a lacerated wound on the animal, into which poison and a lot of bacteria from oral cavity lizard. Even the largest male monitor lizards do not have enough strength to immediately overcome a large ungulate animal, but as a result of such an attack, the victim’s wound becomes inflamed, blood poisoning occurs, the animal gradually weakens and dies after a while. The monitor lizards are left only to follow the victim until she dies. The time for which it dies varies depending on its size. In buffalo, death occurs after 3 weeks. Monitor lizards have a good sense of smell and locate corpses by smell using a long forked tongue. Monitor lizards come from all over the island to the smell of carrion. In feeding areas, fights between males are frequent in order to establish and maintain a hierarchical order (usually non-fatal, although scars and traces of wounds are noticeable).

The Komodo dragon can swallow very large prey or large pieces of food, which is facilitated by the movable connection of the bones of the lower jaw and a capacious, expandable stomach.

Females and juveniles prey on smaller animals. Cubs can even stand up on their hind legs to reach small animals that are too high for adult relatives.

Currently, due to a sharp decline in the number of large wild ungulates on the islands due to poaching, even adult male monitor lizards are forced to switch to smaller prey. Because of this the average size monitor lizards is gradually decreasing and now is about 75% of the average size of a sexually mature individual 10 years ago. Hunger sometimes causes the death of monitor lizards.

reproduction

Animals of this species reach puberty approximately at the tenth year of life, to which only a small part of the born monitor lizards survive. The sex ratio in the population is approximately 3.4:1 in favor of males. Possibly, this is a mechanism for regulating the abundance of the species in the conditions of insular habitation. Since the number of females is much less than the number of males, during the breeding season, ritual fights take place between males for the female. At the same time, monitor lizards stand on their hind legs and, clasping their opponent's front limbs, try to knock him down. In such battles, mature hardened individuals usually win, young and very old males retreat. The victorious male presses the opponent to the ground and scratches him with his claws for a while, after which the loser moves away.

Male Komodo dragons are much larger and more powerful than females. During mating, the male twitches his head, rubs his lower jaw against her neck and scratches the back and tail of the female with his claws.

Mating occurs in winter, during the dry season. After mating, the female is looking for a place to lay eggs. They are often nests of weed chickens erecting compost heaps - natural incubators from fallen leaves for thermoregulation of the development of their eggs. Having found a pile, the female monitor lizard digs a deep hole in it, and often several, in order to divert the attention of wild boars and other predators that eat eggs. Egg laying occurs in July-August, the average size of a Komodo dragon clutch is about 20 eggs. Eggs reach a length of 10 cm and a diameter of 6 cm, weigh up to 200 g. The female guards the nest for 8-8.5 months until the cubs hatch. Young lizards appear in April-May. Having been born, they leave their mother and immediately climb the neighboring trees. To avoid potential dangerous encounters with adult monitor lizards, young monitor lizards spend the first two years of their lives in the crowns of trees, where they are inaccessible to adults.

Parthenogenesis has been found in Komodo dragons. In the absence of males, the female can lay unfertilized eggs, which was observed in the Chester and London zoos in England. Since male monitor lizards have two identical chromosomes, and females, on the contrary, differ, and at the same time a combination of identical ones is viable, all cubs will be male. Each egg that is laid contains either a W or a Z chromosome (in Komodo dragons, ZZ is male and WZ is female), then gene duplication occurs. The resulting diploid cells with two W chromosomes die, and those with two Z chromosomes develop into new lizards. The ability for sexual and asexual reproduction in these reptiles is probably associated with the isolation of the habitat - this allows them to establish new colonies if, as a result of a storm, females without males are thrown onto neighboring islands.

Poison

It has traditionally been believed that the effects of Komodo dragon bites (severe inflammation at the site of the bite, sepsis, etc.) are caused by bacteria living in the monitor's mouth. Auffenberg pointed to the presence of pathogenic microflora in the saliva of the Komodo dragon, including Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus sp., Providencia sp., Proteus morgani and Proteus mirabilis. It has been suggested that bacteria enter the body of lizards when feeding on carrion, as well as when feeding jointly from other monitor lizards. But in oral samples taken from fresh-eating zoo monitors, researchers at the University of Texas found 57 different strains of bacteria found in wild monitors, including Pasteurella multocida. Besides, Pasteurella multocida from monitor lizard saliva showed much more intensive growth on nutrient media than obtained from other sources.

Recently, however, Australian scientists working with related monitor lizards have found that at least some species of monitor lizards are venomous themselves. In late 2005, a team of scientists from the University of Melbourne suggested that the great monitor lizard ( Varanus giganteus), other species of monitor lizards, as well as dragons, may have toxic saliva, and that the effects of the bites of these lizards were caused by mild intoxication. Studies have shown the toxic effects of the saliva of several species of monitor lizards (particularly the spotted monitor lizard ( Varanus varius) and Varanus scalaris), as well as some agama lizards - in particular, the bearded agama ( Pogona barbata). Before this study, there were conflicting data on the toxic effects of the saliva of some monitor lizards, for example, gray monitor lizard (Varanus griseus).

In 2009, the same researchers published further evidence that Komodo dragons have a venomous bite. An MRI scan showed two venom glands in the lower jaw. They removed one of these glands from a terminally ill monitor lizard at the Singapore Zoo and found that it secretes a venom containing various toxic proteins. The functions of these proteins include inhibition of blood clotting, lowering blood pressure, muscle paralysis, and the development of hypothermia leading to shock and unconsciousness in the bitten victim.

Some scientists have proposed a hypothetical non-ranking group to unite snakes, monitor lizards, gila-tooths, fusiformes and iguanas. Toxicofera. The association is based on the presence of toxic components in saliva and assumes that all "poisonous" groups have one ancestor (which is not indisputable).

The poisonous gland of monitor lizards is more primitive than that of poisonous snakes. The gland is located on the lower jaw directly under salivary glands, its ducts open at the base of the teeth, and do not exit through special channels in poisonous teeth, like in snakes. In the oral cavity, poison and saliva mix with decaying food, forming a mixture in which many different bacteria multiply.

Human danger

Komodo monitor lizards 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. Nevertheless, there are several cases of monitor lizards attacking people, when monitor lizards mistook a person for food familiar to a monitor lizard (carrion, birds, etc.) due to some smell. Komodo dragon bites are extremely dangerous. After a bite, you should immediately consult a doctor. Quantity deaths due to untimely provision of medical care (and, as a result, blood poisoning), it reaches 99%. Children are especially vulnerable. Monitor lizards may well kill a child under 10 years old or cause severe injury. There are documented cases of children dying from monitor lizard attacks. There are few human settlements on the islands, but they exist and their population is growing rapidly (800 people according to 2008 data). As a rule, these are poor, fishing villages. In famine years, especially in drought, monitor lizards come close to settlements. They are especially attracted by the smell of human excrement, fish, etc. Cases of monitor lizards digging up human corpses from shallow graves are well known. AT recent times However, Indonesian Muslims living on the islands bury the dead, covering them with dense cast cement slabs, inaccessible to monitor lizards. Rangers usually capture individuals and move them to other areas of the island. Killing monitor lizards is prohibited by law.

Since adult monitor lizards have a very good sense of smell, they can locate the source of the smell of blood up to 5 km away. Several cases have been documented of Komodo dragons attempting to attack tourists with minor open wounds or scratches. A similar danger threatens women who visit the islands of habitat of Komodo monitor lizards, while in the menstrual cycle. Tourists are usually warned of the potential danger by rangers; all groups of tourists are usually accompanied by rangers, armed with long poles with a forked end to protect themselves from possible attacks.

Komodo dragon on Indonesian coin

conservation status

The Komodo dragon is a narrow-range species that is endangered due to economic activity person. Listed in the IUCN Red List and Appendix I of the Convention on international trade CITES species. In 1980, to protect the species from extinction, Komodo National Park was organized, which now regularly organizes sightseeing, ecological and adventure tours.

see also

Notes

1. Ananyeva N. B., Borkin L. Ya., Darevsky I. S., Orlov N. L. Five-language dictionary of animal names. Amphibians and reptiles. Latin, Russian, English, German, French. / under the general editorship of acad. V. E. Sokolova. - M .: Rus. yaz., 1988. - S. 269. - 10,500 copies. - ISBN 5-200-00232-X
2. A. G. Bannikov , I. S. Darevsky , M. N. Denisova Life of animals. Amphibians. Reptiles / ed. V. E. Sokolova. - 2nd ed. - M .: Education, 1985. - V. 5. - S. 245. - 300,000 copies.
3. Ciofi, Claudia The Komodo Dragon (English) . Scientific American (March 1999). archived
4. Dragon's Paradise Lost: Palaeobiogeography, Evolution and Extinction of the Largest-Ever Terrestrial Lizards (Varanidae) (English) . plosone. Archived from the original on February 21, 2012. Retrieved March 6, 2011.
5. Monitor lizards of Komodo Island have been found to be poisonous. living water. Archived from the original on February 21, 2012. Retrieved March 6, 2011.
6. BBC Life. Reptiles and Amphibians. seasonvar (2009). Archived from the original on August 25, 2011. Retrieved March 6, 2011.

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!) The appearance of the 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? Monitor lizards track down large prey from an ambush, and at the time of the 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 lacerated wound.

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 komodo dragons live 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.

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 the directors to 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 scary and appearance, and scaly skin, and a tongue forked like a snake's. 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 injury, 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 down the victim's blood clotting, causes muscle paralysis, sharply 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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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. In the wild, monitor lizards weigh up to 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 him to 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.

Indonesian Komodo island interesting not only for its nature, but also for its animals: among tropical jungle this island live real " dragons»…

Such " the Dragon"reaches a length of 4-5 meters, its weight ranges from 150 to 200 kilograms. These are the largest individuals. The Indonesians themselves call the "dragon" " land crocodile».

komodo dragon is a diurnal animal, it does not hunt at night. The monitor lizard is omnivorous, it can easily eat a gecko, bird eggs, a snake, catch a gaping bird. locals they say that the monitor lizard drags sheep, attacks buffalo and wild pigs. Cases are known when komodo dragon attacked a victim weighing up to 750 kilograms. In order to eat such a huge animal, the “dragon” bit through the tendons, thereby immobilizing the victim, and then shredded the unfortunate creature with its iron jaws. Once a monitor lizard swallowed a furiously squealing dog...


Here on Komodo island, nature dictates its own rules, dividing the year into dry and wet seasons. In the dry season, the monitor lizard has to adhere to the "fast", but in the rainy season, the "dragon" does not deny itself anything. komodo dragon does not tolerate heat well, his body does not have sweat glands. And if the temperature of the animal exceeds 42.7 degrees Celsius, the monitor lizard will die from heatstroke.


Long tongue endowed komodo dragon- This is a very important olfactory organ, like our nose. By sticking out its tongue, the monitor lizard catches odors. The tactility of the monitor lizard's tongue is not inferior to the sensitivity of smell in dogs. Hungry "dragon" is able to track down the victim on a single trace left by the animal a few hours ago.

juveniles komodo dragon painted in dark grey. Orange-red stripes-rings are located throughout the body of the animal. With age, the color of the monitor lizard changes, " the Dragon» acquires an even dark color.

Young monitor lizards, up to a year old, are small: their length reaches one meter. By the end of the first year of life, the monitor lizard already begins to hunt. Kids train on chickens, rodents, frogs, grasshoppers, crabs and the most harmless - snails. The matured "dragon" begins to hunt larger prey: goats, horses, cows, sometimes people. The monitor lizard gets close to its prey and attacks with lightning speed. Then he knocks the animal to the ground and tries to stun it as quickly as possible. In the event of an attack on a person, the monitor lizard first bites off the legs, then tears the body apart.

adults komodo dragon they eat their prey in exactly the same way - spreading the victim to pieces. After the victim of the monitor lizard is killed, the "dragon" rips open the belly and within twenty-five minutes eats the insides of the animal. The monitor lizard eats meat in large pieces, swallowing it along with the bones. To quickly pass food, the monitor lizard constantly throws its head up.

Locals tell how one day, while eating a deer, a monitor lizard pushed the leg of the animal into his throat until he felt that it was stuck. After that, the beast made a sound similar to a rumble and began to violently shake its head, while falling on its front paws. monitor lizard fought until the moment when the paw flew out of his mouth.


While eating an animal the Dragon stands on four outstretched legs. In the process of eating, you can see how the monitor lizard's stomach is filled and pulled to the ground. Having eaten, the monitor lizard goes into the shade of the trees to digest food in peace and quiet. If something is left of the victim, young monitor lizards are drawn to the carcass. During the hungry dry season, pangolins feed on their own fat. Average life expectancy komodo dragon is 40 years old.

Komodo dragons have long ceased to be a curiosity ... But one unresolved question remains: how did such interesting animals get to Komodo Island in our time?

The appearance of a huge lizard is shrouded in mystery. There is a version that the Komodo dragon is the progenitor of the modern crocodile. One thing is clear: the monitor lizard living on Komodo Island is the most large lizard in the world. Paleontologists put forward a version that about 5 - 10 million years ago, the ancestors Komodo lizard appeared in Australia. And this assumption is confirmed by one weighty fact: the bones of the only famous representative large reptiles have been found in Pleistocene and Pliocene deposits australia.


It is believed that after the volcanic islands formed and cooled down, the lizard settled on them, in particular on Komodo island. But here again the question arises: how did the lizard get to the island, located 500 miles from Australia? The answer has not yet been found, but to this day, fishermen are afraid to go sailing near Komodo islands. Let's think that the "dragon" helped sea ​​current. If the version put forward is correct, then what did the lizards eat all the time when there were no buffaloes, no deer, no horses, no cows and pigs on the island ... After all, cattle was brought to the islands by man much later than voracious lizards appeared on them.
Scientists say that in those days giant turtles, elephants, whose height reached one and a half meters, lived on the island. It turns out that the ancestors of modern Komodo lizards hunted elephants, however, dwarf ones.
Anyway, but komodo dragons are "living fossils".