🇮🇩Indonesia·National Animal
🦎Komodo Dragon
The world's largest living lizard.
The Komodo dragon is one of Indonesia's three national animals (alongside the Asian arowana and the Javan hawk-eagle). Found only on a handful of Indonesian islands — Komodo, Rinca, Flores, and a few smaller ones — it's the largest lizard alive today.
Why this animal?
Endemic to Indonesia and found nowhere else on Earth, the Komodo dragon represents the country's extraordinary biodiversity. Komodo National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Things to know
- ·Adult Komodos can reach 3 metres long and weigh 70 kg.
- ·Their bite injects venom that disrupts blood clotting in prey — they don't need to win in a single attack.
- ·Komodos can sometimes reproduce without males through parthenogenesis — the female lays viable, all-male eggs.
- ·They can detect carrion from 10 km away using their forked tongues.
- ·Juvenile Komodos live in trees for the first few years to avoid being eaten by adult dragons.