Komodo dragons kill Indonesian fisherman

An Indonesian fisherman has been killed by Komodo dragons after he was attacked while trespassing on a remote island in search of fruit, officials said Tuesday.

Before we get to the rest of the stroy let's look at some information about Komodo dragons:

The following was taken from: Zoo.org

Komodo dragons are also known as Komodo monitors, or by the local Indonesian name, "ora." These giant lizards belong to the family Varanidae, which includes 52 species of monitor lizards. All varanids belong to a single genus. Varanus includes very tiny lizards only a few inches long to the immense Komodo dragon. Komodo dragons live on four southeastern Indonesian islands in the Lesser Sunda region: Flores, Gili Motang, Komodo and Rinca. As recent as the 1970s, their habitat also included the island of Padar.

Habitat
Komodo dragons inhabit hot, seasonally arid grasslands, savannas and monsoon forests. They live mostly in the lowlands, but have occasionally been found at elevations up to 1,967 feet (600 m).

Physical Characteristics
Male length: Commonly up to 9 feet (2.75 m) long, including tail, although the record is slightly over 10 feet (3 m).
Males and females do not appear to be strikingly different, with the exception of size. A different arrangement of the scales around the genital opening is one distinguishing characteristic between the sexes. Adult Komodos are mostly black, green or gray, with patches of yellow-brown or white.

Weight
Male weight: An exceptionally large male can weigh as much as 550 pounds (250 kg) after a large meal (about half that on an empty stomach).
Females tend to be shorter and weigh less: up to 7.5 feet (2.3 m) long, and up to 150 pounds (67.5 kg).

Diet
In the wild: The primary prey for wild adult dragons is the Sunda deer, but they also eat birds, snakes, fish, crabs, snails, small mammals, pigs, water buffalo, eggs, wild horses and younger Komodos. Komodo dragons are also scavengers, and will eat almost any type of carrion.
At the zoo: Mainly rodents, NOT offered alive.

Now that we know a little more about the Komodo dragon, let's return to the story:

Muhamad Anwar, 32, bled to death on his way to hospital after being mauled by the reptiles at Loh Sriaya, in eastern Indonesia's Komodo National Park, the park's general manager Fransiskus Harum told CNN.

"The fisherman was inside the park when he went looking for sugar-apples. The area was forbidden for people to enter as there are a lot of wild dragons," Harum said.

Other fisherman took Anwar to a clinic on nearby Flores Island, east of Bali, but he was declared dead on arrival, he added.

Komodo dragons, the world's heaviest lizards, can grow up to 3 meters (10 feet) in length and have a toxic bite that they use to kill prey such as buffalo, returning to feast when the animal succumbs to the poison.

Despite their ungainly appearance, the carnivorous reptiles can run as fast as a dog in short bursts, jump up on their hind legs, and kill animals with a blow of their powerful tails.

Attacks on humans are rare, but Monday's incident is the latest in a series in which the monster lizards -- which have forked tongues and fearsome claws --have killed or injured people.

The rest of the stroy can found at two sources:
The Worldview blog

CNN.com

Due to the length of the story and the additonal information I added, The entire story could not be posted here.

Score one for the Dragons.

I think Komodo dragons are pretty cool. The female dragon at our zoo had babies through Parthenogenesis.

In a way this goes hand in hand with the Darwin Awards. If you go trespassing on a remote island with huge lizards, please don't cry when they try and eat you. Now I am not heartless...but come on, have you seen these lizards?


en.wikipedia.org...