Читать книгу The World's Most Dangerous Animals - Kevin Baker Baker - Страница 12

Komodo Dragon in Cincinnati Zoo. Image author: Mark Dumont.

Few animals have ever been as intimidating and rumoured as the Komodo dragon. Located on the Indonesian Lesser Sunda Islands, the Komodo Dragons had lived for millions of years until they were discovered by humans only a mere century ago in 1910. A WW1 pilot crashed into the Komodo sea and swam to Komodo island where he discovered these amazing creatures. Then, in 1912 a scientific expedition was sent to capture several Komodo dragons to study.

This giant reptile is an apex predator among these islands and hunts a variety of mammalian prey from deer to pigs, buffalo, and even the occasional human. These dragons are so fierce they will even feed on smaller dragons and reptiles to satisfy their hunger. The dragons of legend are no more amazing compared to these reptilian beasts that have no threat in their natural habitat, instead, they feed on whatever crosses their path and due to innate hunting strategies can take down animals that dwarf it in size.

As members of the monitor family of lizards, these reptilians are extremely large (they can grow up to 10ft in size and 300 pounds in weight). Not only does their size guarantee their dominance, the Komodo dragon can also move at incredibly high rates of speed that other species can't rival. Their preferred hunting pattern is to lie prone and hide, and then lung at passing prey. They use these combined methods to be effective killing machines. These dragons do not always kill during the initial pursuit of large animals, but instead give them a solid bite and let the bacteria in their saliva do the rest. A Komodo dragon's saliva is deadly and contains over fifty separate bacterial bodies that often can kill a large animal within twenty four hours. This allows them to use their speed to rush to the animal, make contact and bite, and then trail safely behind until the animal dies of blood poisoning. Once the said mammal or reptile has fallen dead, this monstrous monitor will pin down its prey's body with its powerful legs and tear flesh from the carcass.

A kill attracts surrounding dragons and they often consume the dead carcass as a group. It was once believed that the Komodo dragon actually spewed a type of venom, but researchers now believe that it is the bacteria in their mouth that causes the infections. With razor-blade like teeth, the bacteria finds an easy entrance point into the wound of the animal. These beasts are almost like real life dinosaurs as they have no predators above them and are the dominant species in their region. Not accustomed to humans, these reptiles could very well see one as a potential meal!

Komodo dragons can live up to 50 years old and are good swimmers. They are able to swim in the sea and sometimes swim from island to island to find mating partners or hunt for a particular type of prey. There are approximately, at the time of writing, around 5,700 Komodo dragons on Earth, located on Komodo island, Rinca island, Gili Motong and some parts of Flores island in Indonesia. They are an endangered species as humans have hunted their prey excessively, thereby reducing the number of original Komodo dragon numbers.