I shan’t get into the details of what happened after our long walk through the island. Briefly, i sum it up this way.
We saw dragons, more dragons..it was perhaps a lucky day. The rangers (the dragon-guides are refrred to as rangers) who escorted us through the bush and jungles alternatively, couldnt stop their excitment from showing.
“no time we see so much dragon”…they couldnt be joking. They threw curious glances at me as though I was somehow responsible for this good fortune. Peteris, the Lativian guy, a cool cat, really, took more pictures than I, for i had to alternate between stills and videos, and throwin in to a good measure, talking to the rangers about why I hadnt met SRK before.
Few things I learnt about the dragons…1. They dont attack moving creatures. They waited by the watering hole. Animals that came to the watering hole (buffaloes, deer, pigs etc) were their targets. They creep up on the unsuspecting animals and bite them (generally from behind). Once they have sunk in their teeth (or whatever) they leave, as though nothing has happened. The poor animal (see pic) suspects nothing and continues to go about its daily chores until, a week later they fall down dead.
The dragon has been active. This buffalo, already infected with the salival bacteria will die in a couple of days.
The bacteria in the dragon saliva kills them, slowly. Their saliva is worse then their bite. If a human is bitten, he would die if not attanded to within 6 hours. Dragons feed on dead animals. Several of them crawl through the dead animal, eating the rotting flesh. Not a pretty sight, for we happened to come upon one such sight. The other being an infected wild bufalo. (see pic).
But, yes. We saw plenty of dragons that day.
Forward to the night on the boat.
Summary:
Komodo Dragons are found (in their natural habitat) only on Rinca Island and Komodo Island
There are about 2700 of them left in the world. Their numbers are fast dwindling.
The victim dies from the bacteria in the saliva, than from the bite itself
The female lays eggs in the hole in the ground. The young dragons live on trees and feed on insects etc. They live up there to avoid being eaten by their fellow dragons!
The dragons, despite their size, can run very fast.
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