Komodo National Park in Indonesia is a UNESCO listed park of 700 sq miles (1,817 sq km) in total area, primarily on the islands of Komodo, Rinca, and Padar.

The park was established in 1980, initially to conserve the Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis) and its habitat. However, over the years, the goals for the Park have expanded to protecting its entire biodiversity, both terrestrial and marine. In 1986, the Park was declared a World Heritage Site.

The waters surrounding the park are also protected to ensure the survival of the huge variety of coral reefs surrounding the islands. The coral reefs in Komodo National Park are located in waters that are between 100 and 200 meters deep. The park’s coral reefs are part of the Coral Triangle, which is a global center of marine biodiversity. Read more about the Coral Triangle here: Coral Triangle Inititative

Komodo dragons live on the islands of Komodo, Rinca, Nusa Kode, and Gili Motang. The majority of the ~4,000 known dragons live on either Komodo (1,600-2,000) or Rinca (1,000-1,500).

We visited the visitor center on Rinca Island in Loh Buaya Valley. Rinca has been developed to offer an easy way for tourists to visit and view the wildlife without adding stress to the animals. They did this by building a long, raised walkway from the dock into the valley. The walkway is 5-6 feet above ground level, and has tall railings on each side. This allows the tourists to view the dragons and other wildlife without potentially dangerous interactions.

We were extremely lucky to see multiple dragons, very close to the boardwalk. The guide said that tourists don’t always get to see even one, so we were very grateful to have a productive day.

The Komodo is among the world’s largest reptiles and can reach 3 meters or more in length and weigh over 70kg. The saliva of the Komodo dragon is highly septic, and prey that isn’t killed immediately generally dies within a week from blood poisoning.

We saw several large males and a couple of females, in addition to one young dragon. An average adult male will weigh 174 to 201 lbs (79 to 91 kg) and measure 8.5 ft (2.59 m), while an average female will weigh 150 to 161 lb (68 to 73 kg) and measure 7.5 ft (2.29 m).

Several of the large males seemed curious about us (or maybe hungry) and came over very close to our group to investigate. You can also see them using their tongues to smell us. Komodos use their long, forked tongue to sample the air. Then they move the forked tip of its tongue to the roof of its mouth, where it makes contact with their Jacobson’s organs. Jacobson’s organs are a patch of sensory cells within the main nasal chamber that detects heavy moisture-borne odor particles. These organs are found in various amphibians, reptiles, and mammals, including snakes and Komodo Dragons.

The Komodo’s preferred prey is deer, but it also eats pigs, water buffalo, horses, long-tailed macaques, dogs, goats, sea turtle and bird eggs, birds, and other small animals. We didn’t get to see any deer on the island, but we did see several water buffalo.

Young Komodo dragons are born with yellow, green, or reddish spots and stripes over a darker body. Young Komodo dragons take a few years to gain their adult coloration and typically reach their full size in 5 to 7 years.

The young dragons mostly live in trees to protect against predators. They share the trees with a bunch of Long-tailed Macaques that we saw across the island.

The Macaques eat a variety of fruit and nuts, but also like to eat the local Fiddler Crabs.