![]() ![]() Komodo dragons, previously considered a “vulnerable” species, were reclassified last weekend as “endangered” by the conservation organization. “It’s like seeing your storybooks come alive.”īut now, the world’s largest living lizard has moved one step closer to being wiped out in the wild. ![]() “It’s got this fearsome reputation,” said Craig Hilton-Taylor, a biologist with the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Females are even known to eat their own offspring. The dragons can detect flesh from miles away while hunting an impressive array of prey, including deer, boars, horses, water buffalo - and one another. ![]() The carnivorous lizard can grow up to 10 feet long and is equipped with a forked tongue, serrated teeth, armored scales and venom-laced saliva. KSP is expanding their community conservation initiatives, with support from Taronga, to include community awareness programs, habitat patrols, and establishing alternative livestock management practices to reduce conflict between people and Komodo Dragons.The Komodo dragon has earned its status as a reptilian icon. As well as tracking dragons and monitoring prey species abundance, KSP involves communities in protecting the environment through training local staff to conduct monitoring and research activities. KSP work to protect and conserve the Komodo Dragon, its habitat, and the food web upon which it relies. In 2012 Taronga commenced a partnership with the Komodo Survival Program (KSP) an Indonesian-based not-for-profit organisation. The park covers 173,300 hectares, within which the Komodo Dragon population is estimated at less than 3,000 individuals. It was designated an international Biosphere Reserve in 1977 and a World Heritage Site in 1991. Komodo National Park (KNP) was established to protect the Komodo Dragon, its habitat and the surrounding ecosystems. Over the last three decades the range and population of the Komodo Dragon has significantly decreased. The Komodo Dragon, the world’s largest lizard, only occurs on five very small Indonesian islands: Komodo, Rinca, Gili Motang, Nusas Kode and Flores in the Lesser Sunda region. Taronga Institute of Science & Learning. ![]()
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