I read an article earlier today about a two Komodo Dragons mauling a fruit picker in Indonesia and it got me thinking back to my first and only sighting of a Komodo Dragon which was on a tiny island off the coast of Jakarta in December 1998. It wasn't in the wild (thank God!) but it was in a rickety pen and wow was it a mean and ugly creature (check out the claws in the photo).
From Wikipedia...
A member of the monitor lizard family, it is the largest living species of lizard, growing to an average length of 6.6 to 9.8 ft and weighing around 150 lb. Their unusual size is attributed to island gigantism, since there are no other carnivorous animals to fill the niche on the islands where they live.
As a result of their size, these lizards dominate their ecosystems. Although Komodo dragons eat mostly carrion, they will also hunt and ambush prey including invertebrates, birds, and mammals [including humans].
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