The famous Komodo dragons, the heaviest living lizard on the planet, often grows up to 10 feet in length. They have shark-type teeth and poisonous venom that can kill a human being within hours of receiving a bite. These living fossils can run up to eleven mph in short bursts.
For decades villagers have dwelt peacefully alongside the world's largest lizard, until the dragons commenced to attack.
The tales spread quickly across the smattering of tropical islands in southeastern Indonesia, the only place the endangered reptiles can still be seen in the wild. Experts say Komodo dragon attacks are still rare. Since 2007 a young boy and a fisherman have been killed and one person died in 2000. A minimum of 8 people have been badly hurt in the last ten years. All incidents involved an unprovoked attack.
A dragon slithered up the stairs of his wooden hut in Komodo National Park and went for 46-year-old park ranger, Main, who was doing paperwork. It attacked his ankles which were dangling beneath the desk. When Main tried to pry open the beast's powerful jaws, it locked its teeth into his hand.
The dragon's saliva is crammed with over 50 different strains of bacteria. When it attacks it goes on a frenzied biting spree that releases life-threatening venom.
Pointing to his jagged gashes, sewn up with 55 stitches and still swollen three months later, Main said," I thought I wouldn't survive... I've spent half my life working with Komodos and have never seen anything like it. Luckily, my friends heard my screams and got me to hospital in time."
The villagers claim that the dragons are hungry and more aggressive towards people, because their food is being poached, though park officials are quick to dispute this. Heru Rudiharto, a biologist and reptile expert said "Though poaching is illegal, the sheer size of the park and a shortage of rangers make it almost impossible to patrol".
"We used to give them the bones and skin of deer," say the local fishermen. Many villagers accuse the 1994 law that ban villagers from feeding the dragons.
However tame these living reptiles may appear to be, lazing under trees and steering at the ocean from white-sandy beaches, they are strong, fast and deadly. Rudiharto says "The giant lizards have always been dangerous".
A dragon can eat 70 percent of its own body weight in just one feeding.
There is a steady population of about 3,000 to 5,000 Komodo dragons on the islands of Komodo, Rinca, Gila Motang, and Flores, in Indonesia. However, a shortage of egg-laying females, human encroachment, poaching, and natural disasters has pushed the species to endangered status.
For decades villagers have dwelt peacefully alongside the world's largest lizard, until the dragons commenced to attack.
The tales spread quickly across the smattering of tropical islands in southeastern Indonesia, the only place the endangered reptiles can still be seen in the wild. Experts say Komodo dragon attacks are still rare. Since 2007 a young boy and a fisherman have been killed and one person died in 2000. A minimum of 8 people have been badly hurt in the last ten years. All incidents involved an unprovoked attack.
A dragon slithered up the stairs of his wooden hut in Komodo National Park and went for 46-year-old park ranger, Main, who was doing paperwork. It attacked his ankles which were dangling beneath the desk. When Main tried to pry open the beast's powerful jaws, it locked its teeth into his hand.
The dragon's saliva is crammed with over 50 different strains of bacteria. When it attacks it goes on a frenzied biting spree that releases life-threatening venom.
Pointing to his jagged gashes, sewn up with 55 stitches and still swollen three months later, Main said," I thought I wouldn't survive... I've spent half my life working with Komodos and have never seen anything like it. Luckily, my friends heard my screams and got me to hospital in time."
The villagers claim that the dragons are hungry and more aggressive towards people, because their food is being poached, though park officials are quick to dispute this. Heru Rudiharto, a biologist and reptile expert said "Though poaching is illegal, the sheer size of the park and a shortage of rangers make it almost impossible to patrol".
"We used to give them the bones and skin of deer," say the local fishermen. Many villagers accuse the 1994 law that ban villagers from feeding the dragons.
However tame these living reptiles may appear to be, lazing under trees and steering at the ocean from white-sandy beaches, they are strong, fast and deadly. Rudiharto says "The giant lizards have always been dangerous".
A dragon can eat 70 percent of its own body weight in just one feeding.
There is a steady population of about 3,000 to 5,000 Komodo dragons on the islands of Komodo, Rinca, Gila Motang, and Flores, in Indonesia. However, a shortage of egg-laying females, human encroachment, poaching, and natural disasters has pushed the species to endangered status.
Dr Wendy Stenberg-Tendys and her husband are CEO's and founders of YouMe Support Foundation, providing high school education grants for children who are without hope. You can help in this really great project by taking a few minutes to check out the Sponsor a Student program at (http://youmesupport.org). It will change the life of some really needy kids in the South Pacific.
