Facts About Komodo Dragon - strangefacts

• Unlike the other different types of lizards, Komodo dragons maintain a single mate throughout their lifetime

• Komodo can run at about 11 miles an hour

• It is the only lizard that hunts and kills prey larger than its body and bigger than what it can swallow whole

• To avoid being eaten by larger Komodo dragons, youngsters often roll in their own feces so that they give out a foul smell that the adult Komodos avoid

• Komodo dragons can live to be 50 years old

• The Komodo dragon is the world's heaviest lizard, weighing 150 pounds or more

• Although, babies can be born only through mating of a male and a female, there are instances when babies were born from a single Komodo without mating between individuals of different gender

• Though named as dragons, Komodo dragons are lizards. They are the heaviest lizards on Earth that can weigh upto 150 pounds and can grow as long as 3 meters

• These are natives of the Indonesian islands of Komodo, Rinca, Flores, and Gili Motang. Komodo dragon habitat is characteristically hot and dry. The environment in which they thrive is acknowledged to be one of the toughest in the world

• Komodo dragons have a large, flat head, a rounded snout and a long, muscular tail. They move on four strong but bowed legs
  
• Males fight with each other to mate with females. During this battle of dominance, males grapple with one another upon their hind legs. The winner then rubs his chin on the female or may scratch or lick her back

• Mating takes place sometime between May and August. A female lays eggs in the month of September. A female can lay up to 20 eggs at a time

• Komodo dragons can live up to 30 years. Despite their long life and the fact that it is the most efficient predator of the Indonesian islands, Komodo dragons are enlisted as endangered species

• The reasons behind this plight of the mighty lizard are hunting and destruction of their natural habitat by human beings. Read more on komodo dragons deserve our protection

• Komodo dragons are carnivores (meat eaters) and will devour any animal they are capable of dismembering and gulping down

•  Although they are for the most part scavengers, they do capture live prey, including deer, pigs, birds, even young dragons

• The young can escape by climbing trees, because the much-heavier adults cannot climb

•  Komodo dragons are good swimmers and have been reported hunting in the surf for fish and birds

• Komodo dragons are formidable predators, since even one bite can be lethal. The bacteria that live in the dragon's saliva are so virulent that wounds often will not heal

• Even if the victim gets away, it usually dies from infection in a few days. The dragon's reputation as a human eater is well deserved; it does not seem to fear humans and many attacks and deaths have been reported