It is two weeks since a Komodo dragon began to be displayed prominently at a special enclosure at The Madras Crocodile Bank Trust and Centre for Herpetology in Mamallapuram. The reptile is one of four that arrived at the crocodile bank last April. These four reptiles had been flown down from Bronx Zoo in New York.
“The New York zoo gave them in exchange of 12 juvenile gharials from the Crocodile Bank. At that time, the Komodo dragons were three-year-olds. Unable to adapt to the new conditions, especially the Chennai heat, one of them died. We had provided them with temperature gradient. They needed time to acclimatise to their new environment and so, for the past one year, the reptiles were quarantined and not allowed into the visitors’ arena,” says Alwin Jesudasan, assistant director of the Crocodile Bank.
The dragon's indigenous habitat is the Komodos Island in Indonesia, and it is similar to the monitor lizard ( udumbu ). “The reptile is classified as ‘vulnerable’ as per the red list of International Union for Conservation of Nature. Another interesting feature of Komodos that has been reported from many zoos across the world is that the females have laid fertile eggs without ever being in contact with a male. This form of reproduction is called parthenogenesis,” adds Alwin.
Now, each of the three surviving reptiles is five feet long and weigh 12 kg. They can grow up to 10 ft long and weigh 80 kg. Their can live up to 40 years. The Komodo species is supposed to be the largest in the lizard family.
“The animals have been kept in different enclosures. Instructors of Bronx Zoo had warned us against placing them together as they would hurt each other,” says Alwin.
The Madras Crocodile Bank Trust and Centre for Herpetology is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. from Tuesday to Sunday. For details, call 97902 42683.
