Komodo National Park

Peta Taman Nasional Komodo is a UNESCO World Heritage site made up of three major islands: Komodo, Rinca, and Padar. Previously, people could walk among the dragons and the staff would feed them. Then they changed their approach and reintroduced the dragons to their own habitat and built a boardwalk so the humans could observe the dragons and other wildlife. In addition to the world’s largest living lizard, the island is also home to Java deer, water buffalo, banded pigs, and monkeys – all of which are food for the top predator on the island. They don’t eat very often, but when they are hungry, the dragon will attack its animal of choice and bite it. Once

bitten, a bacterial infection kills the prey and the dragon comes back at its leisure to eat. Thankfully, we did not witness this “circle of life” event, but were a bit worried about the deer grazing so near the (probably not hungry) lizard. Visits to KNP are by appointment only and are guided. No open wounds & shaving not advised as the dragons can smell blood 5 km away. A growth chart of one of the locals showed its juvenile weight in March 2010 at 1.3 pounds. In March 2021, it weighed in at 141 pounds. Wow.