komodo giant lizard
KOMODO NATIONAL PARK
Komodo National Park, located between Sumbawa and Flores, was
founded in 1980 with the aim of protecting the endangered Komodo dragon. As the
park is not only the last sanctuary for the Komodo dragon but also a unique
area of marine biodiversity, it became a Man and Biosphere Reserve in 1986 and
entered the list of UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites in 1991. With its outstanding
submarine richness, it is not surprising that the park is one of the world’s
finest destinations for scuba divers. With an area of 1,817 km², the park
consists of Komodo Island, Rinca Island, Padar Island, and numerous smaller
islands. The famous giant lizards, who are unique to Komodo National Park, are
not only of great interest to tourists but also to scientists studying the
theory of evolution.
Rinca Island
Inhabitants
Komodo National Park is home to about 3,500 people who live in
four villages. The largest settlement is Komodo Village on Komodo Island; the
other settlements are Rinca Village and Kerora Village on Rinca Island; and
Paparagan Village on Paparagan Island. Most of the people in Komodo National
Park make their living out of fishing. Some people earn extra income by carving
wooden Komodo dragons to sell to visitors on Komodo Island, or at the airport
and in hotels of Labuan Bajo.
When Komodo became a national park in 1980, these villages have
already been in existence for about 70 years. The people’s origins can be drawn
back to the Sultanate of Bima on Sumbawa Island. Life is not easy for them: as
the population has grown massively over the years, they face serious shortages
of water and firewood. Besides, pollution and over-fishing, using destructive
methods such as dynamite fishing, has endangered marine life – the main source
of livelihood and income of the Komodo inhabitants.
The Komodo dragon
The Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis) is the world’s largest and
also one of the oldest living lizards. As already mentioned, it can only be found
in the wild in Komodo National Park (more precisely on the islands of Komodo,
Rinca, Nusa Kode, and Gili Motang) and to a minor extent on Flores’ west and
north coasts. Adult dragons can reach a length of up to three meters, with an
average weight of around 90kg.
Living mainly on carrion, the dragons also hunt deer and wild
pigs, using their strong tail to bring the prey to the ground. Even though they
appear rather inert, the dragons can accelerate up to 18 kilometers per hour
while hunting. As they have an excellent sense of smell, they can locate their
prey from a distance of several kilometers. Prey that is not killed immediately
will die of blood poisoning because of the dragons’ septic saliva.
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komodo giant lizard |
The Komodo dragon is a loner, living solitarily except at times of
mating which usually takes place in the dry season between June and August. The
female dragons bury their eggs and watch over them for a short time before
leaving them to their fate. After nine months, the newly hatched baby dragons
immediately climb up a tree to avoid the threat of being devoured by older
dragons and other enemies. They live on small lizards and mammals, birds and
their eggs, as well as insects. As soon as they get too heavy for
tree-dwelling, they have to go back to the ground to reach their final stage of
adulthood.
An endangered species
The mystery of how the huge dragons found their way to Komodo and
why they can only be found there is still not clear, herewith creating a
fertile ground for unproven theories and assumptions. A popular theory suggests
that periods of low sea levels enabled the dragons to reach Flores by land. As
an assumed relic of extinct giant lizards, they only survived because of a lack
of natural enemies in these islands’ isolated environment. With less than 2,500
lizards left, the Komodo dragon has now entered the International Union of
Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) red list of endangered species. The most
threatening factor to survival is poachers who constantly minimize the
population of the Timor deer, the Komodo dragon’s staple food.
Gili Lawa, Komodo National Park
Visiting the dragons
Komodo Island is the most-visited attraction of Flores. Rinca, a
smaller island where the Komodo dragons can also be found is a good alternative
to crowded Komodo Island. There are innumerous tour operators both within and
outside of Flores offering Komodo or Rinca tour packages. Many local guides and
boat captains wait to take visitors there from Labuan Bajo.
Komodo National Park on the world stage
The Komodo National Park became one of the 28 official finalists
in the ‘New 7 Wonders of Nature’ global campaign which was launched in 2007.
‘Vote Komodo’ was also taken on the international rally front by implementing
creative activities around Europe to create awareness and to entice people to
vote.
One day after the voting on November 12, 2011, it was announced
that the Komodo National Park is one of the Seven New Wonders of Nature. Now,
New7 Wonders (www.new7wonders.com) plans to work with the Indonesian authorities and Komodo
supporters to evolve a sustainable development strategy. The objective lays in
balancing the needs of the Komodo habitat and its people with the vital task of
defending the park’s ecological integrity.
WhatsApp :
+62-812-1732-5273 (Iping Gantur)
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