🐾 LandCare difficulty: AdvancedLegal complexity: High — restricted in many states
Komodo dragon
Varanus komodoensis
The Komodo dragon is the largest living lizard, an apex predator found only on a handful of Indonesian islands. Endangered by a tiny range, habitat pressures, and climate threats, it is strictly protected and never a private pet.
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Quick facts
| Size | The world's largest lizard; up to ~3 m and 70-90 kg. |
| Lifespan | 30–50 years |
| Native region | Lesser Sunda Islands of Indonesia (Komodo, Rinca, Flores) |
| Climate | 🌴 Tropical |
| Genus | Varanus |
Habitat & enclosure
Endemic to dry tropical savanna, forest, and beaches of a few islands within Komodo National Park and Flores. Its entire global range is small and vulnerable to rising seas and habitat change. It is a strictly protected wild apex predator managed within a national park; this profile is conservation/education only.
Diet
An apex carnivore and scavenger that ambushes large prey including deer, pigs, and water buffalo, aided by serrated teeth and a venomous bite. Its ecological role as top predator makes it a keystone of its island ecosystems.
Behavior & temperament
Largely solitary, dragons gather at carcasses in loose dominance hierarchies. Females can reproduce by parthenogenesis in the absence of males, a notable trait studied in captivity. Hatchlings live arboreally to avoid cannibalism by adults.
Reviewed and signed off by: KinStation Editorial — conservation profile (pending DVM/biologist review)