Life is like an adventure. Little dragons of our planet Where do dragons live and how did they appear on the islands of Indonesia

The Komodo dragon is an amazing and truly unique animal, which is not without reason called a dragon. The largest living lizard spends most of its time hunting. It is an object of pride for the islanders and a constant source of interest for tourists.

Our article will tell you about the life of this dangerous predator, features of its behavior and characteristics characteristic of the species.

Appearance

The photos of Komodo monitor lizards given in our article help to understand why the locals nicknamed this reptile a land crocodile. These animals are indeed comparable in size.

Most adult Komodo dragons reach 2.5 meters in length, while their weight barely exceeds half a centner. But among the giants there are record holders. There is reliable information about the Komodo dragon, whose length exceeded 3 meters and weight reached 150 kg.

Only a specialist can visually distinguish a male from a female. Sexual dimorphism is practically not expressed, but male monitor lizards are usually slightly more massive. But any tourist arriving on the island for the first time can determine which of the two monitor lizards is older: young animals are always brighter in color. In addition, with age, wrinkles and leathery growths form on dull skin.

The body of the monitor lizard is squat, stocky, with very powerful limbs. The tail is mobile and strong. The paws are topped with huge claws.

The huge mouth looks menacing, even when the monitor lizard is calm. The nimble forked tongue that emerges from it every now and then is described by many eyewitnesses as creepy and frightening.

Story

Giant monitor lizards were first discovered on Komodo Island in the early 20th century. Since then, scientists have continued to study the species.

It has been established that the history of the development and evolution of monitor lizards is connected with Australia. The species diverged from its historical ancestor approximately 40 million years ago, then emigrated to the distant mainland and nearby islands.

Later the population shifted to the islands of Indonesia. Perhaps this is due to natural phenomena or a decrease in populations of species of food interest to monitor lizards. In any case, the fauna of Australia only benefited from such a relocation - many species were literally saved from extinction. But the Indonesian ones were unlucky: many scientists associate their extinction with predators of the Varanus genus.

Modernity has successfully mastered new territories and feels great.

Features of behavior

Monitor lizards are diurnal and prefer to sleep at night. Like other cold-blooded animals, they are sensitive to temperature changes. Hunting time comes at dawn. Leading a solitary lifestyle, monitor lizards are not averse to joining forces while chasing game.

It may seem that Komodo dragons are clumsy, fat creatures, but this is far from the case. These animals are unusually hardy, agile and strong. They are capable of reaching speeds of up to 20 km/h, and while they run, the earth, as they say, trembles. Dragons feel no less confident in the water: swimming to the neighboring island is not a problem for them. Sharp nails, strong muscles and a tail-balancer help these animals to climb trees and steep rocks perfectly. Needless to say, how difficult it is for the victim he has his eye on to escape from a monitor lizard?

Dragon life

Adult Komodo dragons live separately from each other. But once a year the flock converges. The period of love and creation of families begins with bloody battles in which it is simply impossible to lose. The fight can end either in victory or death from wounds.

No other animal is dangerous for the monitor lizard. IN natural environment habitat these animals do not know anyone stronger than themselves. People don't hunt them either. Only another dragon can kill a dragon.

Mating games of titans

The monitor lizard who defeats his opponent can choose a girlfriend with whom he will have children. The pair will build a nest, the female will guard the eggs for about eight months, which may be encroached upon by small nocturnal predators. By the way, relatives are also not averse to enjoying such a delicacy. But as soon as the babies are born, the mother will leave them. They will have to survive on their own, relying only on the ability to camouflage and run.

Monitor lizards do not form permanent pairs. The next mating season will begin from scratch - that is, with new battles in which more than one dragon will die.

Komodo dragon on the hunt

This animal - real car for murder. The Komodo Islands can even attack those that are significantly larger than them, such as buffalos. After the death of the victim, a feast ensues. Monitor lizards eat the carcass, tearing off and swallowing huge pieces.

It is noteworthy that most predators prefer one thing - either fresh meat or carrion. Digestive system The monitor lizard is able to cope with both. Giants enjoy feasting on carcasses brought by the sea.

Deadly poison

Powerful jaws, muscles and claws are not the monitor lizard’s only weapons. Unique saliva can be called a real pearl of the arsenal. It contains not only huge doses (probably obtained from eating carrion), but also poison.

For a long time, scientists were confident that the death of a bitten victim was due to simple sepsis. But recently the presence of poisonous glands was discovered. The amount of poison is small and causes instant death only in small animals. But the dose received is enough to trigger irreversible processes.

Monitor lizards are not only excellent tacticians, but also amazing strategists. They know how to wait, sometimes hanging around near the victim for 2-3 weeks and watching how she slowly dies.

Coexistence with man

A natural question arises: can a Komodo dragon kill a woman, man or teenager? The answer, unfortunately, is yes. The mortality rate of a monitor lizard bite exceeds 90%. The poison is especially dangerous for a child.

But modern medicine has an antidote. Therefore, in case of an unsuccessful attempt to make friends with a monitor lizard, you should immediately go to the hospital. The death of a person from a bite is not such a common occurrence these days. As a rule, it occurs if a person hopes that he can cope with the illness. Doctors strongly recommend not to take risks; human immunity is not designed to withstand such stress as the venom of an exotic lizard.

This should be remembered not only by tourists, but also by those who decide to place an unusual pet at home. The intensive care unit of a district hospital may simply not have the necessary antidote, so a preliminary consultation with a competent breeder is extremely necessary.

Monitor lizards in the reserve

No matter how sad it may sound, the formidable predator takes its place in the Red Book. Monitor lizards are protected at the state level. But on the islands of Komodo, Flores, Gili Motang and Rinca, huge reserves have been created in which giants live for their own pleasure. Despite the security and work of a team of professionals, cases of attacks on people are sometimes recorded. This often occurs due to excessive human attention to eating or fighting predators. A camera flash or noise can trigger an attack.

Therefore, if you intend to admire Komodo dragons, follow the rules of the reserve and listen to the advice of the instructor.

Komodo is a small island in Indonesia, famous throughout the world for its giant monitor lizards or dragons. These are the largest lizards on earth, growing up to 3 meters in length and weighing 150 kilograms. Their bite is poisonous and they are dangerous to humans.

Because adult dragons have a very good sense of smell, they can locate the source of the scent of blood up to 5 km away. There have been several documented cases of Komodo dragons attempting to attack tourists with minor open wounds or scratches. A similar danger threatens women who visit the island while on their menstrual cycle...

We approached the island early in the morning. For some reason, I imagined it to be flat and rocky, but it turned out to be green and hilly, similar to Tolkien’s Interland:

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There is no port on the island and we stopped at a roadstead. The pies of the natives immediately approached us:

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Some were simply watching the huge white ship with interest, while others were trying to sell local beads and wood crafts:

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At first, I didn’t understand how they were going to take money from me and give me goods, given that the open deck of the ship is at the height of the 5th floor:

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Everything fell into place when we got into the boats to get to the shore:

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There was no pier where our liner could moor on the Island, and we were taken ashore on Tenders (lifeboats):

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Each boat can comfortably accommodate 80 passengers. In case of an emergency, if the boat needs to be used for its intended purpose, 2 times more is placed here:

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There is a small fishing village, where about 700 people live. They were all fenced off from tourists with an invisible fence so that they wouldn’t pester too much with their souvenirs for “van dola!”:

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Souvenirs could be purchased both from local children and in a civilized manner - in a beach store:

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Several rangers and locals accompanied us deeper into the island. The locals had long sticks with a spear at the end in their hands. They use them to defend themselves from dragons. In the event of an attack, they push their horn into the dragon’s eyes and push it away from them:

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On the territory of the park in the jungle there are paths along which tourists are led:

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These are not bananas, but the fruits of the cotton tree:

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When they ripen, they open up and look like large lumps of cotton wool:

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On Komodo Island there are not only giant lizards, but also specimens of quite familiar sizes:

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I was too lazy to change the lens. These ants were filmed at 500:

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Flying lizard:

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Deer are the most favorite food of dragons. Having tracked a deer, wild boar or buffalo in the bushes, the dragon attacks and seeks to inflict a lacerated wound on the animal, into which poison and many bacteria from oral cavity monitor lizard Even the largest male dragons do not have enough strength to immediately defeat a large ungulate animal, but as a result of such an attack, the victim’s wound becomes inflamed, blood poisoning occurs, the animal gradually weakens and after a while dies. The only thing left for the monitor lizards is to follow the victim until it dies. The time it takes for it to die varies depending on its size. For example, in a buffalo, death occurs after 3 weeks.

At one time, they conducted an experiment and tried to feed the monitor lizards with brought deer, but they began to get sick and die. For some reason, they can only eat local animals:

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In total, about 1,000 passengers descended on the island. We were divided into groups of 25 people and driven along the same route with an interval of 5 minutes:

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Dragons were “prepared” for us along the route in advance. If you look closely at their bellies, you will see that they have recently eaten a hearty meal and simply cannot move:

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People have come up with all sorts of nicknames for lizards - mini-dinosaurs and little dragons. Each fits these amazing scaly creatures just perfectly. Let's get acquainted with the most striking and unusual representatives of tailed reptiles.

IN modern world There are about 6 thousand different species of lizards.

The main tool for obtaining food among the miniature dragons of our planet is the tongue. He can be different shapes, color and size, but is always well mobile and easily pulled out of the mouth.

Many lizards are characterized by autotomy, in other words, sensing danger, these creatures can cast off their tail and then gradually grow a new one.

Lizards are true optimists, they see the world in orange color, and in the literal sense of the word.

Depending on the size of these scaly reptiles, the weight of the eggs laid by females varies from 4 to 200 grams.

The Arizona gila monster, or as it is also called, the Gila monster, has special grooves in its small sharp teeth through which, at the moment of the bite, a painful neurotoxin begins to flow into the body of the victim.

The round-headed agama, or toad-headed agama, lives in the desert, communicates with relatives by curling its tail and scares away enemies with its bizarre mouth folds.

The fastest lizard is the black iguana, which has a recorded land speed of 34.9 kilometers per hour.

Darwin nicknamed marine iguanas “demons of darkness” because they spend all their time diving under water and scraping overgrown plants from rocks that they feed on.

The well-known chameleon is rightfully considered the most a prominent representative infraorder iguanaformes.

This is a truly unique reptile that demonstrates its attitude to what is happening by changing its body color. Among other things, she has an extremely prehensile tail, her eyeballs move independently of each other, and her very long and sticky tongue shoots out at lightning speed to catch her prey.

The thin-bodied El Salvador monitor lizard is recognized as the longest of the lizards, its length is 4.75 meters, about 70 percent of which is the tail.

Geckos are very peculiar lizards that can stay on almost any surface, be it a steep slope, a smooth wall or even polished glass. At the same time, they can support their body weight with just one paw.

The dragon of Komodo Island - the Komodo dragon - is the largest carnivorous lizard on the planet, reaching a length of 3 meters.

The Moloch lizard, despite its name, has nothing to do with the Semitic deity; it was so nicknamed for the thorns covering its body and its terrifying appearance. The “thorny devil” feeds only on ants and, like many of its brothers, is capable of changing color.

Dragons of Komodo Island. February 9th, 2018

The Dragon! Hug him and cry.
Write about the dragon sobbing...

However, if you hug such a dragon, all you can do is cry. True, not for long.
It is said that its poison is lethal. They say that it can cause harm to a victim even without poison. irreparable damage.

My acquaintance with Komodo dragons happened several years ago when I went to these same Komodo Islands to celebrate my unforgettable birthday in the company of these charming creatures.

Yes, they say all sorts of terrible things about them. Well, they ate several deer, buffalo and a couple of people... Well, they have teeth, claws, poison.
Well, yes, and these are not dragons at all, but giant monitor lizards.

But when you look at these cartoon creatures, you forget about all the vile insinuations in their direction.
Therefore, for me they will always be dragons. Cute, cartoonish, with funny heels.
True, I probably won’t hug them anyway.

Wow. How I fit the introduction, the ending, and a photograph of the dragon into ten lines...
Now it’s not very clear what to do with another five dozen photographs and a story about how these dragons posed for us and how in the end they almost ate our leader.

The main population of Komodo dragons - they are also Komodo dragons, they are the same large lizards on Earth - lives on the islands of Komodo and Rinci.

To be sure not to miss the dragons, we decided to walk along both islands.

We started from Komodo Island - after all, the dragons were named after it.
Here we are - Russo-tourists, with a rested appearance.

The first dragon, carelessly lying under a tree. causes unprecedented excitement.

Although the ranger standing right there seems to be hinting with his whole appearance that he’s doing business, just think, an overgrown lizard.

And the dragon lies like this - why haven’t you really seen lizards?

However, at the sight of the second dragon, the photographers’ enthusiasm was no less.

Heels! What cute little heels he has.

But look at this. Another one is lying around. He climbed into the shade and didn’t care about anything.

We arrived on the island in the afternoon, when a sleepy kingdom reigns here. The dragons are sleeping, overwhelmed by the heat.
And only these, fed by rangers, do not find the strength to crawl into the forest and delight tourists.

However, without losing hope of finding a truly wild dragon and despite this very heat, we set off on a trek around the island.

We accidentally came across a nest of monitor lizards. Or rather, an incubator. Here the female dragon buries up to 20 eggs. After 7-8 months, little dragons will hatch from them. If they are lucky of course.
For luck, the dragoness guards the nest.

This time we were lucky and there was no strict guard nearby. However, there seem to be eggs in the clutch too.
Therefore, we move on, turn our heads, look at the beautiful palm trees.

And, by the way, you should have looked at your feet.

With our arrival, the dragon, or rather the dragoness, clearly perked up.

But no. The heat turned out to be stronger. Having lost interest in us, she fell asleep again.

On the way out we came across this scarecrow...

And terrible souvenir sellers who sold small wooden dragons for the price of two live ones. And in general they were extremely unkind. Apparently, they are very spoiled by the continuous flow of tourists.

The next island of our program is Rinca Island. It is smaller in area than Komodo, but there are more dragons there. So the chances of meeting them are much greater, given the increased concentration.

To further increase our chances, we arrived at Rinci early in the morning. At this time, dragons are most active.

And, by the way, not only dragons.

Of the two reptilians, we choose dragons.

Immediately at the entrance there are artifacts directly hinting at how a meeting with dragons might turn out.

Well, we are not the shy ones. In addition, there is very optimistic proof that life will still break through. in one form or another.

So let's not waste time. Let's go in search of dragons.

And so she came to us, dressed up for the holiday - standing, admiring the landscape.

Even the rangers kneel before such a beauty.

And tourists freeze in amazement.

In fact, we asked her to move around a little. She walked back and forth a little and showed us her beautiful gait.

But she stood like a statue. Without condescending to our requests.

She was clearly mocking us.

Why was she mocking - she was just openly laughing.

And only when we began to leave, she, realizing that the audience was leaving her, deigned to walk around a little.

Well, how to go about it. Turn around, bow and leave the stage under camera flashes.

Adult dragons are not too picky about what they eat. They eat everything that moves. Under a hot hand, or rather a cold paw, even the younger generation can be killed.

Therefore, in order to stay alive, young animals spend a lot of time in trees, where adults
dragons can't climb.

Like this natural selection, whoever didn’t think of climbing a tree won’t last long in this cruel world.

If you get to Rinci Island, you will not be as lucky as us and will not see wild dragons in wild forests, don't be upset.
You will see dragons anyway.

The biggest party they have is in the kitchen. It seems almost all the dragons on the island have crawled here.
Well, except for the two we saw along the way.

A well-fed dragon is a good dragon.

But the painted dragon is evil. This is how animals caught in cannibalism are marked.

True, we were told that dragons that attack people are taken to some third island, where they serve a life sentence.
But these are probably particularly evil recidivist dragons. And for the first time, the dragons are marked with paint.

We left the island under the sad glances of the dragons.

Do you remember that I promised to tell you who and how almost ate the leader?

No, not these cute creatures at all.

2012 is the year of the dragon according to the Chinese calendar and the dragon is the only animal that is completely fictional. Or not?

These six amazing dragons, although they do not quite correspond to the stereotypes of winged, scaly, fire-breathing reptiles, are real and, either by their appearance or by their name, represent the most real dragons.

1. Dragonfly

Dragonflies got their name from ancient folklore, which depicted them as distant descendants of extinct dragons. Many European legends described dragonflies in an unsightly light, calling them colloquial speech by various names such as Horse Stinger, Eye stealer, Eye Cutter and Devil's darning needle.
On the other hand, Chinese and Japanese folk tales associate dragonflies with prosperity, harmony, agility and strength.

Although dragonflies are predators and a threat to mosquitoes, they do not bite humans and there is no need to be afraid of them. However, everything was different 325 million years ago, when the huge insect-like ancestors of dragonflies from the order had a wingspan of more than a meter and ate everything that moved on the ground, including our primitive amphibian ancestors.

2.Bearded dragon

Their gaping mouth, spiky skin and terrifying appearance make them feel like real dragons; there is only one drawback that spoils everything - their size.

They grow up to 60 cm and look as if they had just stepped out of a low-budget monster movie from the 1950s.

Bearded dragons are very popular as pets, although they are prohibited from being exported outside of Australia, where they live. There are seven different species of these animals, some of which have a kind of hood, which, when blossomed, gives them an even greater resemblance to a dragon.

3. Sea Dragon

Sea dragons- This tropical fish, which come in two types - leafy and herbal and have family ties with the one who for some reason is usually called seahorse. Leafy ones can reach a length of 24 cm, while herbal ones grow up to 45 cm.

Both sea dragons and seahorses resemble each other with a horse-like head shape, but dragons are more successful at camouflage. They have acquired numerous spines and ribs, which enhances their resemblance to their mythical ancestor, but does not make them any more frightening. Sea dragons are just as safe as their relatives, seahorses.

4. Chinese water dragon

Signs Chinese zodiac are divided into five different elements, which alternate every 12 years, so in 2012 Chinese water the dragon receives additional status. These representatives of the animal world can grow up to 90 cm in length, two-thirds of which is the tail.

The Chinese water dragon is a graceful green lizard with jagged spines on its back. She prefers to live in tropical forests, in close proximity to ponds and rivers. In case of danger, they simply jump into the water and hide in it.

As the Chinese dragon ages, it develops rainbow-colored spots on its neck, usually red, orange, or Pink colour. Their beauty and relative docile nature make them good pets, if you are a reptile lover of course. However, keep in mind that if you scare the Chinese dragon, it runs very fast on its short legs.

5. Mandarin Dragonet

Mandarin ducks (or tangerine dragonets) are one of the types of bottom-dwelling fish that do not have scales. But they have bright colors, wide fins and a triangular head, which once reminded someone of a dragon. Some mandarin ducks have amazing multi-colored colors, for which they could be called psychedelic dragons.

These are very beautiful fish, but, unfortunately, they survive very poorly in aquariums. Another dragon that is difficult to get into your home...

6. Komodo Dragons

We would call these creatures “terrible lizards,” but this name is already taken by “dinosaurs” (which is translated from Latin in exactly the same way). If only there was another more appropriate name for these huge, predatory and poisonous reptiles... Komodo dragons grow up to 3 meters in length, zoologists call this island gigantism.
Although Komodo dragons are taxonomically classified as monitor lizards, I think they are the most similar to dragons of any living animal.
Really, do you know anything outside of Anne McCaffrey's Riders of Pern that could chew a buffalo whole?

Komodo dragons are fairly well protected from poachers on their two islands. But lack of food increasingly forces them to attack people, which makes them quite dangerous animals.

free translation (c)