tags: Komodo Dragons, Indonesia, streaming video
This streaming video shows the "small miracles" that are hatching out at the Denver Zoo: the rare and difficult-to-breed Komodo Dragons. Komodo dragons are large lizards native to several small islands in Indonesia [2:25].
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For centuries local villagers who lived around what is now Komodo National Park in Indonesia fed slaughtered animals to their neighbors, giant Komodo dragons.
Flora the Komodo dragon has become pregnant without any male help. She is carrying seven baby Komodo dragons.
At a zoo in England, a Komodo dragon has laid eggs that have hatched even though she has never been exposed to a male:
I love Komodo dragons, but their recent addition to London zoo was a little anticlimatic. Mainly because the path leading up to the exhibit is all pomp and fanfare with kid-targeted facts about how dangerous and awesome they are, and when you finally get to the enclosure they're usually asleep, often behind a bush.
I also note that aside from the traditional method shown in the video, Komodo dragons can also have virgin births, just like the hammerhead shark of a few weeks back.
Hi,
You say you are an evolutionary biologist. Lots of questions on this.
I've read a few books. Here are the ones as I lay person, i found interesting. Is the science in these books solid?
1) Survival of the Sickest
2) Evolution the remarkable history of a scientific theory
The lobster article was interesting.
But they are awesome.
They don't even have to bite you hard, just a scratch from their teeth and then all the virulent bacteria in their saliva (I assume the captive ones still have all these bacteria) will kill you in a day or so.
Hiding behind bushes and catching people unawares seems a smart hunting method, but if you want to race one don't expect to win over short distances.