Unlike the white alligator who slept during most of his 1999 visit, the lizard is active during the day and sleeps at night. During the day, he swims in his pool, strolls around the rock ledge, warms himself under sun lamps and cools himself in the shadows. Meals of dead rodents are a private matter because Komodo table manners aren't fit for human company. Loki is good at his job, which is to bring more visitors to the zoo. About 5,000 people visited the lizard during his first five days in residence.
Zoos are new at the celebrity guest game.
But they've learned that visitors stay away if they don't have a new reason to go to the zoo. But the Komodos will make more than a one-summer stand in Puget Sound. Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle will become a rare permanent home for three Komodo dragons this year. Two females will open the exhibit May 27, and Loki is scheduled to follow. By then, he may have his own fan club.