Komodo Dragon
The Islands in Danger exhibit is home to Chester Zoo’s three Komodo Dragons, the largest species of lizard in the world.
At 34kg and two metres long our female, Flora, is an impressive dragon. Flora became famous in 2007 when she produced babies without ever being mated. This is a process known as parthenogenesis. Other species of lizards have been known to reproduce in this way; however this was the first time it had ever been recorded in Komodo Dragons. This event made international headlines and her story was written up as a scientific paper and published in Nature.
Flora now shares her enclosure with our male dragon, Trooper. They are both important animals in the European Endangered Species Breeding Programme (EEP), managed by Chester Zoo.
Komodo Dragons are intelligent and curious animals who love to explore. The Herpetology team frequently move items around and place sacks of leaves and branches in the dragon’s enclosure to stimulate our animal’s senses and keep their environment interesting.
When they’re hungry, dragons spend lots of time foraging. Our keepers lay scent trails around the enclosure to encourage this natural behaviour – sometimes with a small food reward at the end, sometimes not!
Chester Zoo (and all European zoos holding Komodo Dragons) support the Wae Wuul Nature Reserve, operated by the Komodo Survival Programme in Flores.
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Species Information
Where they live: Indonesian islands of Komodo, Flores, Rinca, Gili Motang and Gili Dasami, and Padar (not seen here since the 1970’s but reintroduction is a possibility).
Habitat: Tropical monsoon forest, palm savannah and grasslands.
Size: Up to 3 metres.
Weight: Up to 80kg.
Conservation Status: IUCN Red List: Vulnerable.
Threats: Habitat loss throughout their entire range. Loss of prey species by widespread poaching of deer; the Komodo dragon’s chief prey source. Hunting and persecution. Fires, set deliberately to encourage new vegetation growth to attract deer for poaching