Dragon living on Planet Earth | Giant Dragon on Earth | Extinction of Giant Dragon
Komodo National Park is home to thousands of komodo dragons a type of monitor lizard whose large size and aggressive nature earned it a scary name and protecting them is its principal purpose. The most serious threat to Komodo dragons is depletion of their prey by human poachers and the feral dogs that roam the island.
It takes a tough species to survive on a place like Komodo Island. This rugged volcanic island off the northwest tip of Flores, Indonesia, is wickedly hot and dry 8 months of the year and then the monsoons drench it. Much of the island is rocky and barren, with patches of hardy savanna, bits of mossy bamboo cloud forest on higher ridges, and a tropical deciduous forest in the valleys, full of trees that are water-retention specialists.
Not many species can make it here, but the king of the island looks perfect for the job: the Komodo dragon, world's biggest lizard, a scaly monster 2.4 to 3m (8–10 ft.) long that hasn't evolved much in 4 million years. This hefty reptile weighs anywhere from 45kg to 150kg (100-330 lb.), depending on how recently it has gorged on carrion. But it's no mere scavenger: The Komodo lies in wait in the grass, springs out and slashes its victim (Timor deer, wild pigs, buffalo) with powerful serrated teeth, and then lets them struggle off into the bush to die, poisoned by bacteria in the Komodo's saliva. Flicking its forked yellow tongue, the lizard "tastes the air" to detect the scent of rotting flesh, then ambles over to the corpse and feasts. Komodos are not only carnivores, they are cannibals; they'll even eat their young, who are forced to spend their first few months of life in the rainforest canopy to escape being eaten. (Luckily, they hatch just after the Jan-Feb rainy season, when there's plenty to eat up there.)
There are nearly 6,000 of these "dragons" (really a giant monitor lizard) on Komodo and a few neighboring islands, and most park visitors come here in hopes of sighting one. A Komodo station at Loho Liang is baited twice a week to draw Komodos for tourist viewing. You may also catch them basking in the sun in the early morning, raising their body temperatures (they are, after all, cold-blooded) before slinking off to hunt.
The park was initially established in 1980 to conserve the Komodo dragon, but as their population has stabilized, the real issue has become what's happening off shore, in the seagrass beds, mangrove forests, and coral reefs that make this a superb scuba diving destination. Tidal currents makes these interisland waters particularly rich, with more than 1,000 species of fish as well as dugong, sharks, manta rays, whales, dolphins, and sea turtles. But several fishing villages remain within the park, all established before 1980, and their population has boomed to some 4,000 villagers. Intensive fishing is damaging the reefs and exhausting the waters but can conservation officials deny the resident population their traditional livelihood, just to satisfy international environmental ideals? It's a hot issue, with no easy answer in sight.
Read also my article about 10 Best Fishing Zones in the World, Best Fishing Spots in New Zealand and Traces of alien discoveries Under the Sea Thanks.
Tag : Dragon living on Planet Earth, Giant Dragon on Earth, Extinction of Giant Dragon, Komodo National Park, Giant dragon in the World only in Indonesia
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