Galapagos monitor lizards. Known cases of attacks by the Komodo monitor lizard on humans

Komodo dragon- the largest in size species of lizards that exist today.

Adult specimens of Komodo monitor lizards reach a weight of 70 kg and a body length of up to 3 m. It is worth noting that this monitor lizard can be even larger in captivity.

The adult has a dark brown color with a yellow speck. The cutting edge of the monitor lizard's teeth is somewhat reminiscent of a saw blade. This structure of the tooth allows the animal to easily butcher the carcass of its prey.

The habitat of the Komodo monitor lizards

The habitat of this lizard is very localized. It is found only on the islands of Indonesia such as Flores, Rinka, Jili Motang and Komodo. From the name of the last island, in fact, the name of this species comes. Research shows that these lizards left Australia 900,000 years ago and migrated to the islands.

The lifestyle of the Komodo dragon

These lizards form groups only in mating season and during feeding. The rest of the time, keep one by one. They are active mainly during daylight hours. Being in the shade for the first part of the day, they go hunting in the second half, when the heat subsides somewhat. They spend the night in shelters, from which they crawl out only in the morning.

The monitor lizard keeps well-lit by the sun dry areas. Usually these are savannas, dry tropical forests and arid plains. From May to October inhabits dry riverbeds. In order to profit from carrion, he often visits the coast. Varan - great swimmer... There have been cases when these lizards swam even from island to island.

Burrows up to 5 meters deep serve as a refuge for monitor lizards. Lizards dig these holes on their own. In this they are helped by their powerful paws with sharp claws. Younger monitor lizards, unable to dig similar holes for themselves, find refuge in the hollows and cracks of trees. The monitor lizard is able to develop a running speed of up to 20 km / h for a short time. To get to food at a certain height, the monitor lizard is able to climb hind legs.

V natural environment habitat adult lizards do not meet enemies. However, young animals can often become prey for birds of prey and snakes.

In captivity, these lizards rarely live up to 25 years, although, according to some reports, in wild conditions monitor lizards can live up to half a century.

Komodo monitor lizard nutrition

Various animals serve as food for the Komodo dragon. The diet includes fish, crabs, lizards, turtles, rats, snakes. The monitor lizard also feeds on birds and insects. From large animals, deer, horses and even buffaloes sometimes become prey. In especially hungry years, monitor lizards do not hesitate to eat individuals of their own species. In this case, the victims of cannibalism are, as a rule, very small individuals and young animals.

Adults often feed on carrion. Sometimes the method of extraction of such a fall is very interesting.

The monitor lizard, having tracked down a large animal, suddenly attacks it, inflicting wounds on it, into which poison and bacteria from oral cavity this lizard. Then the monitor lizard goes after its prey in anticipation of its death.

Such persecution can last from several hours to several weeks. These lizards feel carrion well due to their amazingly developed scent.

Nowadays, poaching within the habitat of monitor lizards causes enormous harm and reduces the number of large ungulates. Because of this, monitor lizards are often forced to be content with smaller prey. The consequence of this state of affairs is a decrease in the average size of adults of the Komodo monitor lizard. This size has decreased by 25% over the past 10 years.

Breeding Komodo monitor lizards

Sexual maturity comes to these lizards in the tenth year of existence. Until this time, only small part individuals. As for the sexual structure, females occupy only 23% of the entire population.

Due to the huge competition in the mating season, fights for females take place between males. These battles are often won by experienced adults. Old people and young people, as a rule, are out of work.

The mating season in monitor lizards begins in winter time... Having mated, the female begins to search for a place for laying. Typically, these areas are compost heaps created by weed chickens as nests. These heaps are natural incubators for Komodo monitor lizard eggs. In these heaps, females dig deep holes. Laying takes place in summer period from July to August. One clutch contains about 20 eggs. With a diameter of 6 cm and a length of 10 cm, the eggs weigh about two hundred grams.

The Komodo monitor lizard is the largest reptile of the living lizards belonging to the Scaly order and directly related to the Varanov family.

A lizard of this species can reach over three meters in length, can you imagine a reptile longer than an ordinary subcompact car? To be honest, it's kind of difficult for us :-).

The world first learned about them in 1912, and before that time locals, adjacent to the island of Komodo, where these huge lizards live today, called them terrestrial.

Sharp claws on its powerful paws and an elastic 1.5 tail makes the victim tremble from just one sight, this ruthless and ferocious predator.

Appearance

Unlike its giant counterpart, Komodo lizard much larger, stronger and more insidious. Females of this species are slightly smaller than males. Length adult males can reach up to 3 meters, but these are rare specimens, usually its average size is no more than 2.6 meters.

The mass of an average male does not exceed 95 kg, the weight of a female is 78 kg... The largest male with a body length of up to three meters can weigh up to 147 kg, but one must take into account the fact that he could have a good lunch before weighing, respectively, the real weight will be when we subtract 17-20 kg from the total mass.

The body color of the island giant is dark rusty with amber spots interspersed with specks. Young animals have a slightly light color, there are reddish-orange spots on their ridge, they reluctantly merge into thin stripes on the neck and tail.

On the front and back edges of his teeth, which are compressed from the sides, have serrated and cutting edges. This shape of the teeth helps him to pull out large chunks of meat from the dead carcass.

The long forked tongue plays the most important role in search of food. He is able to recognize the smell of a potential victim at a distance of more than 9.5 kilometers..

Its four limbs are well developed, moreover, they are equipped with curved claws about 10 cm long capable of inflicting mortal wounds even on such a formidable animal as.

Habitat

This type of reptile lives only on the Indonesian islands. Let's be a little more specific and name all the islands:

• Gili Mota;
• Komodo;
• Rinja;
• Flores;
• Padar;
• Owadi Sami;

Several islands are located close to northern Australia. Scientists have suggested that this species of lizards previously lived in Australia, then, for unknown reasons, migrated to the aforementioned neighboring islands about 900 years ago.

Habitat

All the islands on which this species of reptiles lives have a mountainous and rocky structure, and there are also minor tropical jungle with a cultural landscape.

Lifestyle

Komodo dragon leads single image life, he prefers to sleep at night, finding a dill, dry and warm place for himself, and in the morning when the warm rays heat his body to the desired temperature, he goes fishing.

The not disturbed animal moves slowly, raising its head slightly upward, and the tail is in a raised state. If you try to catch it, it immediately becomes aggressive, striking numerous blows with its powerful tail section, it tries to knock down the enemy.

He is an excellent sprinter and can compete on short distances with. It can also easily catch up with a running person. The speed during the pursuit of prey can reach up to 23 km / h. On maximum speed he can move for a short time, so he prefers to watch the prey in ambush and attack it at the most suitable moment for him.

Young individuals spend a lot of time in trees. It is difficult for adult lizards to climb a tree due to their huge body weight, but if you need to catch prey, then this can be helped by his tail, on which he is operating during climbing.

After a meal, young animals spend time in trees and in tree hollows, while adults and old animals prefer rocky crevices or wet pits in the rainforest.

Nutrition

The diet of this beast is quite varied, and it does not disdain carrion. The daily menu for an adult animal includes:

• Deer;
• Birds;

Young individuals to the above diet can still eat small birds.

Hunting

We have already casually mentioned the fact that adults run fast, but only for short distances, young animals, due to their low weight, are much more enduring and faster.

For hunting, this species has worked out a special tactic that allows you to get a wonderful lunch for a minimum energy consumption. Having approached the production at the maximum near distance, he freezes and waits for the victim to approach him.

Then he makes a roll at the victim and his powerful jaws knocks her to the ground. Having fixed the animal with his teeth and paws, shaking his head in different directions, he tears off large pieces of meat and immediately swallows them. Curiously, after the animal is full, he licks the rest of the carcass with his bloody tongue.... Probably, it is this behavior of the animal that is associated with stories about the "fire-breathing dragon".

Reproduction

The mating season for monitor lizards begins at the end of June. During this period, fierce battles occur between the males, during which they can cripple the opponent up to lethal outcome... This is justified, because the better the territory of the male, the greater the likelihood that the female will go to him.

The fertilized female lays more than 30 eggs in the ground at the end of July, and then carefully buries for more than 8 months. All the rest of the work will be done by the sun, its rays heat earth surface to the desired temperature. After eight months, small lizards hatch no more than 27-30 cm long.When tiny lizards get out, they become vulnerable, because they can safely dine with them:

• And even large individuals of a related species;

Youngsters are rather shy, the slightest rustle makes them hide under stones and in trees. Having survived a three-year period, his body is more than one meter in length, and he no longer has to be so fearful. By the age of five, its body length has doubled and it is ready to mate.

Red Book

Nothing threatens this taxon at present. Suppose this is due to the fact that people do not live on the islands. The approximate number of lizards living on all the islands taken together reaches more than 5100 individuals..

Life span

The monitor lizard lives on uninhabited islands from 24 to 37 years.

1. The largest Komodo dragon lived at the St. Louis Zoo, its length was more than 3 meters and 15 cm, and its weight reached 167 kg.
2. One adult lizard can eat alone large deer, however, after that he digest it for a whole week.
3. The appearance of the egg of this lizard resembles that of a goose, but it is covered with a leathery surface.
4. The tail of this predator is exactly half of its total length.
5. If several monitor lizards gather at the prey, then a complete hierarchy reigns among them.

The dragons of Komodo Island are without a doubt the most stunning 20th century animal discovery on planet Earth. In 1912, while flying over the Lesser Sunda Islands group, a Dutch pilot was forced to land on the shore of a small uninhabited island due to a breakdown. Having settled comfortably on the beach, the pilot began to repair his plane, when he suddenly felt that someone was standing behind him. I turned around and was stunned ...

A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF

Kingdom: Animals (Animalia).
Type: Chordates (Chordata).
Class: Reptiles (Reptilia).
Order: Squamates.
Family: Monitor lizards (Varanidae).
Genus: Monitor lizards (Varanus).
Species: Komodo lizard (Varanus komodensis).

WHY INCLUDED IN THE RED BOOK

According to scientists, there are from 4 to 5 thousand Komodo monitor lizards on Earth. Why did it happen? There are many reasons: and high volcanic activity, and pollution environment, and illegal hunting of monitor lizards for the sake of skins and claws, and tourism. Some reptiles die of hunger, as poachers kill animals that are easiest for monitor lizards to hunt. National park Komodo was organized in 1980 specifically to protect and preserve a unique species.

WHERE DIVES

The Komodo dragon lives in Indonesia, but only on a limited number of islands: Rincha, Jili Motang, Florex and Komodo. By name last place monitor lizard and received the name "Komodo". Scientists believe that it is the birthplace of the species. Presumably, about 900 thousand years ago, the species penetrated the Indonesian islands, where it successfully took root. These animals in every possible way avoid meeting with humans.

HOW TO FIND OUT

Komodo dragon is the most big lizard Earth. V wildlife lizards weigh up to 70 kg, but when kept in captivity, they can be much larger. The largest Komodo dragon known to science, reached a body length of 3.13 m and weighed 166 kg. In this case, the tail is about half the length. The skin of the monitor lizards is brownish brown and covered with light yellow specks. The color of young monitor lizards is more intense. On the back and in the tail of the body, they have ocellated spots that can merge and form stripes. Aborigines often call the Komodo monitor lizard "ground crocodile". The nickname is justified by many features. external structure reptiles. She has a stocky, squat body, short, widely spaced legs, a flattened head, very sharp, laterally flattened teeth with serrated edges. They help to cope excellently even with large prey. The long curved claws are impressive! With their help, monitor lizards dig deep burrows-shelters and hunt their victims.

LIFESTYLE AND BIOLOGY

The Komodo dragon leads a solitary lifestyle. He is quite secretive and does not like company. Only occasionally, for example, during the mating season or during the search for food, do the monitor lizards unite in small groups. The rest of the time, each individual prefers to take care of itself on its own.

The Komodo dragon is highly temperature dependent. Therefore, many of the features of his life are influenced by weather conditions... He is active during the day. He spends the night in a shelter, from which, if necessary, he can still go out and go hunting. The Komodo dragon is an excellent swimmer. He perfectly overcomes the distances between the islands by water. Young individuals spend a lot of time in trees, and older reptiles are more common on the ground. With its seeming clumsiness, the Komodo monitor lizard is able to reach speeds of up to 20 km / h and get food from a low height, standing on its hind legs and leaning on its tail.

The average life expectancy is 25 years. It is assumed that they can live longer. By about 10 years old, monitor lizards reach sexual maturity. Males arrange fights for the female, and the winner gets the right to continue his race. The female buries a clutch of 20 eggs in a burrow or compost heap. The female remains to guard the nest for eight to nine months, until the babies are born. Immediately after birth, they leave the nest and rush to the trees, where they spend the first few years of their life.

Someone who cannot be called picky in food is the Komodo dragon. He is ready to swallow anything that moves, be it a grasshopper, frog or dog. His impressive size, sharp teeth and tenacious claws help him to attack even such large animals as a horse or deer. Of course, he is not able to kill the animal right away. But, inflicting wounds on him, with which poison and bacteria enter, the monitor lizard patiently waits until his victim dies, and only then proceeds to the meal. Monitor lizards and carrion do not disdain. In its environment, the Komodo dragon is the largest and dangerous predator, so he has no one to fear.

The Komodo dragon easily passes from one emotional state to another. Peacefully lying and seemingly calm reptile in a matter of minutes can become vicious and aggressive. There are known cases of attacks by Komodo monitor lizards on zoo employees and ordinary people... Therefore, the giant should be treated with extreme caution.

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Dragon from Komodo Island (lat. Varanus komodoensis), he is also a Komodo monitor lizard, he is also a giant Indonesian monitor lizard - this is a lizard with the most impressive dimensions in the world.

flickr / Antoni Sesen

The average weight of the giant is 90 kg, and the body length, respectively, 2.5 m, while the tail occupies almost half of the body. And the length of the most powerful specimen, the parameters of which were officially recorded, exceeded 3 meters with a weight of 160 kg.

The appearance of the Komodo dragon is the most predestined - either a lizard, or a dragon, or a dinosaur. And the island natives believe that most of all this creature looks like an alligator, and therefore they call it Buyya Darat, which in translation from the local dialect means a land crocodile. And although the Komodo dragon has only one head and does not spew sheaves of flame from its nostrils, something aggressive in the appearance of this reptile is undoubtedly present.

This impression is enhanced by the color of the monitor lizard - dark brown, with yellowish blotches, and (especially!) appearance teeth - squeezed from the sides, with cutting, jagged edges. A quick glance at this perfect arsenal, which is a "dragon" jaw, is enough to understand that the Komodo dragon is not a joke. More than 60 teeth and a shark-like jaw - isn't this the perfect killing machine?

What is the diet of a giant reptile? No, no, lizards have only superficial resemblance to vegetarian dinosaurs: the Komodo dragon's gastronomic preferences are strikingly different from food preferences ancient ancestor... The tastes of the lizard are distinguished by an enviable variety: it does not disdain carrion and readily absorbs any living creature - from insects and birds to horses, buffaloes, deer and even its own brethren. Maybe it is for this reason that newborn lizards, having barely hatched, immediately leave their mother, hiding from her in the dense crown of trees?

Indeed, cannibalism is quite common among Komodo dragons: in the lunch menu of adult monitor lizards, young relatives, smaller in size, often turn out to be. A hungry monitor lizard can pose a threat to humans, and there are often cases when the prey coincides in its weight category with the attacker. How do the lizards manage to prevail over the prey? The monitor lizards hunt down large prey from an ambush, and at the time of the attack they either knock down the victim with a powerful blow of the tail, breaking its legs, or bite into the flesh of a boar or deer with their teeth, inflicting a deadly lacerated wound.

The chances of survival in a wounded animal are scanty, since during a bite dangerous bacteria penetrate into its body from the mouth of the lizard, as well as poison from the poisonous glands of the reptile's lower jaw. Inflammation develops accelerated pace, and the Komodo dragon can only wait until the victim is completely exhausted and unable to resist. He stubbornly follows the wounded prey, not letting go of it. Sometimes such tracking lasts up to three weeks - after so much time, a buffalo bitten by a monitor lizard dies.

In the photo I am a dragon and a slightly agitated Lera :)

Those wishing to see such handsome people in their natural habitat would have to go to the Indonesian islands, since they live Komodo dragons exactly there. However, daredevils planning such a trip should be as careful as possible: monitor lizards have a keen sense of smell, and even a tiny drop of blood from a minor scratch on the body can attract a lizard located at a distance of 5 km with its smell. There have been cases of attacks on tourists, therefore, the huntsmen accompanying the tourist groups are usually armed with long strong poles. Just in case.

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

Since adult dragons possess very good sense of smell, they can locate the source of the blood odor up to 5 km away. Several cases have been documented in which Komodo monitor lizards tried to attack tourists with minor open wounds or scratches. A similar danger threatens women who visit the island while in their menstrual cycle ...

We arrived at the island early in the morning. For some reason, I imagined it flat and rocky, but it turned out to be green and hilly, similar to Tolkien's Inter-Earth:

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

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Someone just watched with interest the huge white ship, while someone tried to sell local beads and wood crafts:

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At first, I did not understand how they were going to take money from me and transfer the goods to me, 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 descended 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 to the shore on Tenders (lifeboats):

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Each boat can comfortably accommodate 80 passengers. When emergency situation, if the boat needs to be used for its intended purpose, 2 times more will fit here:

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There is a small fishing village on the island, where about 700 people live. They were all fenced off from tourists with an invisible fence so that they would not bother too much with their souvenirs for "van dole!":

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Souvenirs could be purchased both from local children and in a civilized way - in a beach shop:

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Inland we were accompanied by several rangers and locals. The locals had long sticks in their hands with a spear at the end. They defend themselves against dragons with them. In the event of an attack, they rest against the dragon's eyes with a spear and push it away from themselves:

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On the territory of the park, in the jungle, paths have been cut along which tourists are taken:

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

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

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On the island of Komodo, there are not only giant lizards, but also specimens of quite usual sizes:

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I was too lazy to change the lens. These ants were shot for 500:

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Flying Lizard:

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Deer is the dragon's favorite food. Having tracked down 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 are introduced from the mouth of the monitor lizard. Even the largest male dragons do not have enough strength to immediately defeat a large hoofed 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. Lizards are left only to follow the victim until she dies. The time it takes for it to die differs 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 the 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 1000 passengers descended on the island. We were divided into groups of 25 people and taken along the same route with an interval of 5 minutes:

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Dragons were "prepared" for us on the route in advance. If you take a closer look at their bellies, you will see that they recently ate a satisfying meal and simply cannot move:

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