Komodo Dragon Island
November 16, 2007 - 5:53 pm

It is the original habitat of the biggest lizard in the earth. Komodo National Park offers its visitors with the beautiful landscape, quite and calm, bring you close with a touch of Nature.

Nestled between eastern Sumbawa and western Flores lie three tiny grass-covered islands Komodo, Padar and Rinca, which together form the  Komodo National Park, a protected wildlife reserve. This is the home of the giants lizard known as the "Komodo Dragon " it was thought to be a myth until the turn of the century, when fishermen who were forced by a storm to take shelter on Komodo sight the monsters.

Komodo National Parkhas widely known with the home of the giant lizard Komodo Dragon - which has just declare to be one of the latest heritage of the world. Komodo National Park is nestled between eastern Sumbawa and western Flores lie three tiny grass-covered islands Komodo, Padar and Rinca, which together form the  Komodo National Park, a protected wildlife reserve. This is the home of the giants lizard known as the "Komodo Dragon" it was thought to be a myth until the turn of the century, when fishermen who were forced by a storm to take shelter on Komodo sight the monsters.

Explore the under water live and its ecosystems which has well known as the best diving site in the world. From beautiful coral, reefs, thousands sort of fishes to the crystal water and beautiful beach are await to visit. Komodo dragons live in one of the driest area in Indonesia, where there are few permanent water sources.

This is the world's largest monitor lizard, varanus Komodoensies, when full grown it measures up to 3.13 meters (10feet 2 inches) in length and weight anything up to 165.9kg (365pounds). They are fearsome creatures with enormous jaws, squat muscular legs and sharp claws. Preying on live deer, goats  and wild pigs, they lie in  wait hidden in the long grass

Young dragons spend most of their time in trees but dragons over 1.5m long can not climb well. Dragons over 2 meters are too heavy to climb trees. The Komodo dragons are constantly regulating their body temperatures. In the early morning, they must warm-up their bodies in the sun. If their body temperature drops too low, the food in their stomach can rot and cause regurgitation or even death. However, the Komodo dragon's body temperature must not exceed 42 degrees celcius (108 degrees Fahrenheit). When it is too hot, they must rest and seek shade to prevent their body from over-heating. Dragons are most active from 6 - 10am in the morning and again from 3 - 5pm in the afternoon. During the rainy season. Komodo dragons stay in burrows if they are too cold. Komodo dragons sleep at night because it is usually too cool for them to be active. They will sleep where they will not loose too much heat at the edge of the savanna and monsoon forest or in burrows. The average sleeping burrow is only 75cm to 1.25m in length. The Komodo dragons will use the burrows of rodents, palm civets, wild board, porcupine (on Flores) and those made by other Komodo dragons. Nesting burrows are about 2 meters long.

Fossils bearing a strong resemblance have been unearths from chalk deposits dating back 130 million years, about the end of the age of Dinosaurs. The few inhabitants dwelling on Komodo today have built their Kampong on stilts right next to the sea, and survive by dishing, as the land is dry and arid, almost impossible to cultivate. The water surroundings the island are rich in colorful corals, fish and shellfish, but there are nazardous rip tides and strong currents which make diving too risk for the novice.

Dolphins, whales and sea turtles are often seen in the straits between the islands, and a rare species of giants seawater crocodile has been sighted on isolated beach