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Komodo Island, a Natural Wonder

A rare discovery awaits the traveler who ventures into the remote island of Komodo in East Nusa Tenggara. Walking through the dense vegetation, hearing and seeing a variety of birds and animal life, you may feel you've landed in another epoch. Indeed, the last vestiges of long-gone dinosaurs survive here, in the form of the legendary giant lizards called Komodo dragons.

So, where is Komodo Island? It is in Indonesia, about 321 km. east of Bali. It is part of the Komodo National Park, a protected wildlife reserve which includes the islands of Komodo, Rinca, and Padar, plus tiny surrounding islets, pinched between the much larger islands of Flores and Sumbawa and encompassing, as well, the western end of Flores.

In terms of size, Komodo National Park covers 173,300 ha., of which 40,728 ha. constitutes land. The three largest islands are Komodo (33,937 ha.), Rinca (19,625 ha.), and Padar (2,017 ha.).

The park was established in 1980, with the main purpose of conserving the unique Komodo dragon, the world's largest lizard (Varamus komodoensis), and its habitat. Over the years, however, the goals have expanded to protecting its entire biodiversity, both terrestrial and marine. In 1991, UNESCO declared the park a World Heritage Site and a Biosphere Reserve in recognition of the park's biological importance.

Caged visitors, free-roaming animals

Did you ever imagine that you might see a dragon in person? If you want to see Komodos, you should get to the park early in the day, before 6:00 a.m. when the first tour starts. Even this early, the island is hot, so dress lightly and bring a lot of water.

Before the tour, you can visit the little museum they have at park headquarters,where you can see an exhibition of the various rock types found on the island and a display of its poisonous snakes, of which there are a great many. You can also pet the deer that hang out at park headquarters;

the big dragons can't come into this area, so the deer are safe. You can also see a lot of little Komodo dragons, the young ones who must spend their first several years in trees to be safe from their voracious elders. The Komodo are cannibals who eat their own young and even other adults when they can pull it off. They are large, ferocious predators fully capable of killing and eating a human being. The hike is fairly long and very hot, the destination a dry creek bed where the dragons like to gather and bathe themselves in the morning sun. The path leads directly to a fenced-in area for tourists to stand in while observing the giants. Like a zoo in reverse, the people are caged while the animals roam free outside.

Komodo dragons, known locally as ora, are the largest lizard still living on earth, but not the largest reptile, since alligators and the crocodiles can be much bigger. They are a type of monitor lizard belonging to the Varanidae family and can reach three meters or more in length and weigh over 70 kg. Large adults usually weigh up to 90 kg. It is hard to tell the difference between male and female dragons; however males have a special scale-pattern at the base of the tail and tend to grow larger than females. The largest recorded length is 3.13 m. Females are rarely more than 2.5 m. in length. Adult Komodos are mostly black, green or gray in color, with patches of yellow-brown or white.

Scientists believe that Komodos can live up to 50 years and maybe longer. They are excellent swimmers, swimming from one island to another in search of food or mates, covering a distance of at least 500 m. Komodos have an excellent sense of smell. Using a long, yellow, forked tongue, they are able to find carrion up to 11 km. away. They also use their tongue to investigate other Komodo defecation sites, which provides information about another's sex, size, and age. Although their eyes detect motion better than stationary objects, Komodos can see objects more than 300 m. away. They are not deaf, but their hearing is restricted to a range of 400-2,000 Hertz.

Young Komodos spend most of their time in trees, but those over 1.5 m. long cannot climb well. Those over 2 meters long are too heavy to climb trees. The Komodos constantly regulate their body temperatures. In the early morning, they must warm their bodies in the sun. If their body temperature drops too low, the food in their stomach can rot and cause vomit or even death. So, their body temperature must not exceed 42°C. When too hot, they must rest in the shade to prevent over-heating. Komodos are most active at 6-10 a.m. in the morning and at 3-5 p.m. in the afternoon. During the rainy season, they stay in burrows, if they are too cold. They also sleep at night when it is usually too cool for them to be active.

Female Komodos start mating at seven years of age and males at eight years of age. The mating season is from July to August. The females lay on overage 18 eggs per clutch and one clutch per year. They lay them in a burrow, digging several false tunnels to make it difficult for predators to find the eggs. The eggs incubate for 8-9 months and hatch in March-April. The average size of an egg is 8.6 cm. long, with a diameter of 5.9 cm. and a weight of 105 grams. They are about the size of swan eggs; the shells are soft and leathery.

Komodo's other wildlife

Apart from Komodos, there are deer (Cervus timorensis), wild buffalo (Bubalus bubalis), wild boar (Sus scrofa), and the macaque monkey (Macaca fascicularis). The Komodo National Park is even home to a species of wild horse (Equus qaballus), on the island of Rinca. It also has a very rich marine environment that includes coral reefs, mangroves, sea grass beds, and semi-enclosed bays. These habitats harbor more than 1,000 species of fish, some 260 species of reef building coral, 70 species of sponge, and 2 species of turtle. The park is also home to at least 5 species of whale and 10 species of dolphin, which are often seen.

The terrestrial ecosystems are strongly affected by the climate: a lengthy dry season with high temperatures ranging from 17°C to 43°C, low rainfall, and seasonal monsoon rains. More than 70% of the park is open grass-woodland savanna. Lontar palms (Borassus flabellifer) are typical, dominating most of the park. However, the dry climate means that terrestrial plant species are not so abundant. These include jujubi (Zizyphus jujuba), tamarind (Tamarindus indicus), kapuh or kelumpang (Sterculia foetida), and kesambi (Schleichera oleosa).

Visiting arrangements

Komodo National Park was once a stomping ground of the privileged and wealthy, but it is now open to all. Some 20,000 visitors a year come to the park, mostly from foreign countries. The general route of access is from Bali to Bima on the eastern end of Sumbawa Island or to Labuan Bajo on the western end of Flores. Labuan Bajo is the home of the park's offices. Both Bima and Labuan Bajo are serviced by regularly scheduled flights departing daily at 9:30 a.m. from Denpasar to Bima, with connecting flights to Labuan Bajo on Mondays and Saturdays. The gateway cities are also connected to Bali by overland buses and inter-island ferries with fast ferries twice a week. Local coastal ships travel regularly between Lombok and Labuan Bajo. These boats cater to tourists and take passengers on a four-day trip that includes a day-and-night in Komodo National Park (cost: US$50 per person).

The best traveling season is March-to-June and October-to-December. In the July-August peak tourist season, visitors can get to Komodo from Sape port, east of Bima, using a ferty service heading for Labuan Bajo which picks up and drops off passengers at Komodo. Otherwise, local tour operators organize shared boat charters from either Bima or Labuan Bajo to Loh Liang and the smaller islands in Komodo National Park. Grand Komodo Tours operates a four-day/three-night Bima-Komodo package for US$190, with two nights in a hotel, and one aboard the boat.

The Loh Liang ranger station at Slawi Bay on Komodo Island is the park's largest facility. It includes bungalows and rooms, and a restaurant. It is also the home for most park rangers. The most popular tourist activity is a hike to the Banugulung viewing area, a two-hour round-trip, level walk that originates in Loh Liang. Hikes to other areas on Komodo are also possible, and vary from one to two days. These areas are Gunung Ara, Poreng, Loh Sebita, Gunung Satalibo, and Soro Masangga. On longer walks, overnight accommodation can be arranged at the Loh Sebita and Loh Genggo ranger posts.

The snorkeling and diving around Komodo Island are some of the best in the world for exploring the underwater life and its ecosystems, but especially for viewing soft corals. If you are a certified diver, a compressor and diving equipment can be hired at Loh Liang; masks and fins are also available for snorkelers.

Altogether, Komodo is one of the most fascinating places on earth, with unforgettable experiences.

 

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