The komodo dragons are the world’s largest species of lizards. They are found in the Sunda and Komodo Islands. The males are about 2.75 metres and up to 550kg after a full meal. The females are shorter and lighter than the males, being about 2.5 metres and 68 kg. The Komodo dragons have a life span up to 30 years in the wild. Their prey consists of Pigs, Small Deer, and they are also known to take on Water Buffalos. The komodo dragons will also eat their young and their eggs if needed making them cannibals.

The komodo dragons are known to eat as much as their body weight worth of food and they can survive for weeks without having to eat anything. Their teeth are about 1 cm long and they resemble the teeth of a shark. They have been known to attach humans are rarely kill them. Even for their size they are fast and agile with a speed of 20 MPH. The Komodo Dragons have been on earth for about 40 million years or more. The Komodo dragon’s salvia contains 50 different types of bacteria and 7 that are fatal. The Komodo dragon is at the top of its food chain making it more dangerous.

Why Komodo Dragons are Endangered

The komodo dragons are in the endangered and IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) red list. These lizards are on the endangered list for many reasons. The largest threat to the Komodo dragon is the volcanic activity. The volcanic activity causes loss of the lizard’s prey, thus causing deaths and loss of the dragons. Another threat is the villagers that live close to the komodo dragons. The villagers are reducing the population by poisoning carrion and then throwing it where the lizards will get and then killing the lizards by poison. They are also endangered because of tourism in the Sunda and Komodo Islands and because of illegal poaching. There are about 5000 dragons in the wild and only 350 of them are breeding females. The Komodo dragon is the king of its food chain, and if this lizard goes extinct it would collapse a whole food chain causing more extinctions.

Ecosystem

Food Chain/ Web

The Komodo dragon rules its food chain being at the top of its food chain. The Komodo dragon has no predators expect the human. The Komodo dragon can and will kill anything if needed and is one of the most powerful reptiles in the world.

Adaptations

The Komodo dragon has a lot of adaptations to survive in its Ecosystem. The first adaptation is its Gular Pouch. The Gular Pouch helps the lizard to breathe while running and is the only reptile with this feature. Like all the other reptiles, the komodo dragons have a forked tongue to follow scent trails. The Komodo dragon has an excellent sense of smell; it can smell a carrion (carcass) 5 kilometres away. These Lizards also have a flexible skull to be able to chew and swallow big chunks of meat. They are all so very good tree climbers and swimmers. The Komodo dragon can run up to 20 MPH.

Biome

The Komodo dragon lives in a biome that has Mountains, Savannas, Monsoon forests, and Tropical grasslands. These regions all add up to a mixture of the grassland and forest biomes.

How the Komodo Dragon Affects its Ecosystem

The Komodo dragon is the leader of its food chain, so it is the most vital creature in its habitat. If the Komodo dragons were to go extinct they would collapse the ecosystem causing a bigger population of its prey, like pigs, deer, and the buffalos would grow into mass populations and since they are herbivores they would eventually eat up all of the plant life and then going extinct themselves for loss of food.