Komodo Dragons

[00:00:00] Alex Re: Hello, welcome to On Wildlife. I'm your host Alex Re. On this podcast, we bring the wild to you. We take you on a journey into the life of a different animal every month, and I guarantee you, you're gonna come out of here knowing more about your favorite animal than you did before. This episode's Animal has a mythological name, and even though they're real, they do have a lot of characteristics that are out of this world.

[00:00:26] This reptile is one of the most successful predators on the planet too. So join me as we take a trip to a very select few islands to talk about Komodo Dragons,

[00:00:54] Kubota Drag. Dragons are of course not really dragons. They're reptiles. More specifically, they were species of monitor lizard. Monitor lizards have been on earth for about a hundred million years. Komodo dragons are only found on specific Indonesian islands. One of the islands is named Komodo, which is where the Komodo dragon gets its name.

[00:01:19] The other part of its name Dragon might be because of the animal's massive size and appearance. They're the largest living lizard species in the world. They can be up to 10 feet in length, which is as long as the height of an NBA basketball hoop. Not only that, but on average they weigh over 170 pounds, and the largest known Komodo dragon weighed in at 366 pounds.

[00:01:48] The males are typically larger than the females. What's interesting is that their characteristics vary based on the island in which they live. For example, individuals living on the islands, Gilly Moton and Gilly Sami are smaller than those on the other islands. Scientists believe that it's because these two islands are smaller than the other islands and there's less food availability.

[00:02:14] So over time it's become more advantageous to have a smaller body size. It is awesome to see natural selection on display in real life because Komodo Dragons are reptiles, which are cold-blooded. The habitats that they live in are usually pretty warm. They live in tropical forests as well as grasslands.

[00:02:36] The scientific way to say that an animal is cold-blooded is to call them an ectoderm. This means that they rely on the outside environment to regulate their body temperature. And it's why you'll find reptiles basking in the sun. They're actually using the sun to increase their internal body temperature.

[00:02:56] Humans and other mammals are homeo THMs, meaning that their body maintains a specific body temperature, which isn't reliant on the temperature of the habitat. Okay, let's take our first break and then we'll talk about what and how Komodo Dragons eat.

[00:03:24] This week I wanna give a shout out to Leon from Wales for suggesting that I do an episode on Komodo Dragons. Thanks for the suggestion. Remember, if you wanna suggest an animal for me to talk about, make sure you email us at On Wildlife dot podcast@gmail.com.

[00:03:52] Okay, now back to the episode. Komodo Dragons are carnivorous, and they're the apex predators in their ecosystem, meaning that they're at the very top of the food chain. In adolescents, they'll eat smaller animals like other lizards, rodents, and insects, but the adults go for much larger prey. One of their favorite animals to eat are deer.

[00:04:17] They'll also go after wild boar and water buffalo. When you think about predators that hunt these large animals, you wouldn't expect a lizard to be on the list. But they have a really cool adaptation in order to take down their prey. Apex predators like cheetahs can use speed to chase down their prey.

[00:04:37] And wolves will hunt in packs. And while the Komodo dragon can reach speeds of up to 12 miles per hour in short bursts, it has a special way of taking down animals by itself that are larger and faster than it first. Komodo Dragons ambush their prey waiting quietly to burst out of hiding. When an animal walks by.

[00:05:01] Then they'll use their powerful neck and jaws to try and take down their prey, biting it. In the process, they have 60 teeth that are curved and serrated, which are great for ripping off chunks of meat. They can also use their sharp claws as weapons to overcome their prey. If they're unable to take their prey down and it escapes, all the Komodo dragon has to do is follow the wounded animal.

[00:05:29] This is because their bite contains around 50 different bacterial strains, which are quick to cause an infection. They're also able to inject venom into their prey, which stops blood from clotting, causing the animal's wound not to be able to heal. Komodo Dragons track their prey using their strongest sense, their sense of smell.

[00:05:52] They have a forked tongue, which is not the case for most other lizard. If you watch a Komodo dragon, you'll see that they constantly stick their tongue out. This is their way of smelling the air. They collect scent particles with their tongue, and they have an organ called Jacobson's organ that processes the information that they sense.

[00:06:13] Some studies show that they can detect a dead animal from more than five miles away. Komodo Dragons are able to eat 80% of their body weight in one sitting, and they can scarf down five and a half pounds of meat in one minute, and they don't leave much of their prey behind as they'll eat the bones and hide of the animal too.

[00:06:36] Komodo Dragons are usually solitary animals, but they will come together when there's a large meal to share. Another time when you'll find more than one individual in the same place is during mating season, which occurs mainly in the summer. In order to win the mating rites of females, male Komodo Dragons will wrestle each other.

[00:06:57] These wrestling matches are fought using their front legs. And don't forget, they have really sharp claws. So oftentimes blood will be shed during these battles. Luckily, their body is covered in osteoderms, which are scales that offer pretty strong protection. And also Komodo dragons are immune to their own venom and the bacteria that infects their prey.

[00:07:20] So if one does get bitten while fighting, they won't be harmed by the usual effects. Because of this resistance to so many strains of bacteria, scientists are looking into the use of Komodo dragon blood for the development of new types of antibiotics. The winner of the wrestling match will meet with the female and she'll build a nest to lay her eggs in.

[00:07:43] Sometimes females will dig in the ground and bury their eggs, and other times they'll actually use the nests built by other animals. Specifically birds called scrub foul. The female will lay around 15 to 30 eggs, and depending on different environmental factors such as the temperature, they'll hatch in about three to eight months.

[00:08:06] The eggs are not as hard as one's laid by birds. Komodo, dragon eggshells are softer and few more like leather. And females don't breed every year. This is because it takes a lot of energy to create offspring. So these rest years allow for healthier offspring in the future. During incubation, the mother will guard the eggs, protecting them from other animals, and male Komodo dragons.

[00:08:34] Males are known to eat eggs and also juvenile Komodo dragons. As soon as they hatch, they're on their own. The female does not protect or interact with them, and in order to avoid being eaten by predators and adult males, Komodo Dragon Hatchlings will climb into trees where they'll live for the next three years until they're large enough to survive on the ground.

[00:08:59] When animals live mostly in trees, we call them arboreal. They'll also roll themselves into feces so that males are unable to track their scent. Another escape method that Komodos Dragons use is swimming. They're surprisingly really good swimmers, which is actually pretty common for a lot of reptiles.

[00:09:21] When they get in the water, they heap all four of their legs at their side and use their tail to propel them forward. When they first hatch, Komodo Dragons are a little over a foot long. They reach full maturity around five years old, and research has shown that they can live to be around 30 to 50 years old.

[00:09:42] But we still don't know the full answer to how long they can really live for. Now something really cool is that Komodo Dragons have been observed to perform Parth neurogenesis. This is when females are able to reproduce without the need for fertilization by a male. This can be really beneficial if, for example, there aren't enough males in a population of Komodo dragons.

[00:10:06] This way, mating is not needed for Komodo dragons. Only males can be born from Parth neurogenesis. You'd think this would be great for zoos and other places where they have captive Komodo dragons, but it can lead to some issues. The major issue is that it reduces the amount of genetic diversity in the population.

[00:10:27] This can cause genetic diseases in the next generation of animals. All right, let's take our last break and then we'll talk about some more Komodo Dragon behaviors.

[00:10:49] Time for today's trivia question. Who invented the classification system that we use for all living things?

[00:11:06] The answer is Carl Lan

[00:11:24] Kimono Dragons. Are mainly diurnal, meaning that they're active during the day and they sleep in burrows, that they dig themselves even though they're mainly solitary animals. They do need to communicate when they come in contact with each other, and they even have their own social hierarchy mainly for when they're all feeding in the same area.

[00:11:46] The larger males are usually the more dominant ones, and they get first eating rights and first breeding rights. In order to threaten other individuals, they'll use visual displays like arching their backs and swinging their tails. They can also use auditory displays like hissing to show dominance. And we talked a little bit about their sense of smell earlier.

[00:12:11] They also use scent to communicate. They'll put fecal pellets on places that they've walked through to tell other individuals that they were there. Although Komodo dragons are apex predators in their habitat and have plenty of lethal adaptations at their disposal, their populations are actually not in great shape.

[00:12:32] They're classified as endangered with only 3,500 individuals left in the wild. In 2021, there were only an estimated 400 adult females left. One of their largest issues is habitat loss. They're only found on a few islands in the entire world. Not only are some of their habitats being cleared by humans, but climate change has caused sea levels to rise, which is actually reducing the amount of land on their islands.

[00:13:05] They've also been the victims of the illegal pet trade. Also because the adults mainly go after big game species, their food sources are being poached by humans being apex predators. They keep their entire food web in equilibrium by keeping prey populations in check. They also help to prevent the spread of diseases because they scavenge for food as well, and eat almost the entire carcass of an animal.

[00:13:34] And don't forget, they help humans too. Tons of tourists travel every year to view these amazing animals, which helps to boost the economy of Indonesia. Thankfully, there are a lot of conservation efforts working to keep the Komodo Dragon population afloat. And in 1980, Komodo National Park was established in their territories, which are protected from human development and poachers.

[00:14:00] There are also laws in place to stop the trafficking of Komodo Dragons, making it illegal to transport them off of the islands. If you wanna help Komodo Dragons, you should take a look at Komodo Survival Program. Action Indonesia and the Indonesian Conservation Foundation. Thank you so much for coming on this adventure with me as we explored the world of Komodo Dragons.

[00:14:26] You can find the sources that we use for this podcast and links to organizations that we reference at onwildlife.org. You can also email us with any questions at On Wildlife dot podcast@gmail.com, and you can follow us on Instagram at On Wildlife, or on TikTok at On Wildlife. And don't forget to tune in next month for another awesome episode.

[00:14:51] And that's on Wildlife

[00:14:58] Jess Avellino: You've been listening to On Wildlife with Alex re. On Wildlife provides general educational information on various topics as a public service, which should not be construed as professional financial, real estate, tax, or legal advice. These are our personal opinions only. Please refer to our full disclaimer policy on our website for full details.