page_title: Komodo dragon
section_title: Food
hierarchical_section_title: Komodo dragon / Food
caption_attribution_description: English: Komodo Dragons in the wild on Rinca island Indonesia.
context_page_description: The Komodo dragon is a species of lizard that lives in the Indonesian islands of Komodo, Rincah, Flores, Gili Motang, and Gili Dasami. It is the largest living lizard. They grow to an average length of 2–3 meters and weigh around 70 kg. Komodo dragon bites can be very dangerous, and they sometimes attack people.
  Western scientists first saw Komodo dragons in 1910. They are very popular animals in zoos because they are very big and look scary. The lizards are in some danger. There are very few Komodo dragons still alive on their home islands. Indonesian law does not allow hunting these lizards. Komodo National Park was made to help protect Komodo dragons.
  The Komodo dragon has other names. It can also be called the Komodo monitor or the Komodo Island monitor by some scientists, but this is not very common. The people who live in Komodo Island call them ora, buaja durat or biawak raksasa.
context_section_description: Komodo dragons are carnivores, which means that they eat meat. Although they eat mostly dead animals they will also catch live animals as prey. When prey goes by a Komodo dragon, it will suddenly charge at the animal and bite or claw the belly or the throat. To catch animals that are up high and out of reach, the Komodo dragon may stand on its back legs and use its tail as a support.
  Komodo dragons do not chew their food. They eat by biting and pulling off large chunks of flesh and swallowing them whole. They can swallow smaller prey, up to the size of a goat, whole. This is because they have flexible jaws and skulls, and their  stomachs can expand. Komodo dragons make much saliva to help the food move easily, but swallowing still takes a long time (15–20 minutes to swallow a goat). Komodo dragons may try to swallow faster by running and pushing the dead animal in its mouth very hard against a tree. Sometimes a lizard hits the tree so hard that it gets knocked out. Dragons breathe using a small tube under the tongue that connects to the lungs. This allows it to continue breathing even while swallowing large things.  Komodo dragons can eat up to 80 percent of its body weight in one meal. After swallowing its food, it drags itself to a sunny place to speed up digestion so the food does not rot and poison the dragon. Large dragons can survive on as little as 12 meals a year. After digestion, the Komodo dragon vomits the horns, hair, and teeth of the animal it ate. This vomit is covered in a smelly mucus. After vomiting, it rubs its face in the dirt or on bushes to get rid of the mucus. This suggests that komodo dragons dislike the smell, just like humans do.
  The largest animals usually eat first, while the smaller ones eat later. Dragons of equal size may wrestle each other. Losers usually run away, although sometimes they are chased and eaten by the winners.
  The Komodo dragon's diet includes invertebrates, other reptiles (including smaller Komodo dragons), birds, bird eggs, small mammals, monkeys, wild boars, goats, deer, horses, and water buffalo. Young Komodo dragons will eat insects, eggs, geckoes, and small mammals. Komodo dragons may eat people and, they can even dig up bodies from their graves to eat them. Therefore, people on Komodo Island moved their graves from sandy to clay ground and piled rocks on top to stop the lizards from digging up dead bodies.
  Because the Komodo dragon does not have a diaphragm, it cannot suck water when drinking. It cannot lap water with its tongue either. Instead, it drinks by taking a mouthful of water, lifting its head, and letting the water run down its throat.
caption: Komodo dragons on Rinca
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