The biggest lizard
A big male can be three metres long and weigh as much as a grown man.
Asian jungle
Komodo dragon
Varanus komodoensis
The biggest lizard in the world: heavy, grey-brown and scaly, with a long yellow forked tongue.
- Size
- Up to 3m long: the biggest lizard
- Look for it
- All year round
- Where
- Komodo and a few nearby islands in Indonesia
Swaggers after you, tasting the air. Move your pointer and see.
When to look
Komodo dragon
Good to know
Six things about the komodo dragon
Smelling with its tongue
It flicks its forked tongue to taste the air, and can find a dead animal miles away.
A venomous bite
Glands in its lower jaw make venom that stops blood from clotting.
One huge meal
It can eat most of its own body weight in one sitting, then go a month without food.
Babies in the trees
Young dragons live up in the trees for their first years, out of reach of the adults.
No father needed
A female kept alone can lay eggs that hatch without a male. It has happened in zoos, including Chester.
The real thing
Photos of the komodo dragon
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Photos are from Wikimedia Commons, used under the free licences shown. They have been resized, and cropped where they appear in link previews.
How to spot one
Rangers lead walks on Komodo and Rinca islands. The dragons often lie in the shade near the ranger station in the heat of the day.
How to help
Komodo dragons live on only a handful of islands, so they are at risk from rising seas and loss of prey. Visit with licensed guides, whose fees pay for protection.
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