Komodo dragon
Varanus komodoensis
On Komodo or Rinca trails, you may meet the world's largest lizard with a park ranger. Watch quietly from the distance your guide sets. Sightings are not guaranteed.
Endangered (IUCN, 2019) means it is at very high risk of extinction in the wild.
Photos show the species, not always the places on this page.
Length
Usually about 2 to 3 m (6.6 to 9.8 ft) long; the largest verified was 3.13 m (10.3 ft)
Weight
Varies a lot by sex and island; large adults are often about 70 kg (154 lb) and females usually weigh less. The largest verified was 166 kg (366 lb)
Next to a person
A typical adult weighs about as much as an adult person and is longer than a person is tall; the largest verified was nearly twice as long as a person is tall
What it eats
Meat: it ambushes deer, wild pigs and water buffalo and eats carcasses; young dragons eat insects, small lizards and birds.
Around people
Potentially dangerous, respect
How it lives
Adult Komodo dragons are ambush predators that wait beside animal trails, and they can smell carrion from far away with their forked yellow tongue. Their deep, serrated bite causes heavy blood loss, and venom glands in the jaw may add to the effect. Young dragons live in trees in their early years, partly to avoid being eaten by adults. Mating runs from about May to August, with males wrestling, and females often lay about 15 to 30 eggs, which take around 7 to 9 months to hatch.
Where it goes
Komodo dragons live on land and do not migrate between islands. Adults stay in their home areas and walk along game trails, where they wait in ambush for deer and pigs.
We only draw a journey on the map when scientists have tracked it or clearly documented it. For this animal we have not found one yet.
Populations
Body size differs by island and follows the food available. Komodo and Rinca have the largest dragons, while Gili Motang and Nusa Kode, where deer are scarce, have much smaller ones. Populations on Flores are more fragmented and genetically distinct. Few or no dragons have lived on Padar since the 1970s.
Meet it respectfully
Visit only with an authorised Komodo National Park ranger or naturalist guide, and never walk alone. Stay on marked trails, in a group, and keep the distance your ranger sets. Never touch, feed or chase a dragon, and avoid sudden running. Serious and even fatal bites on people have been recorded, though they are rare.
Fun fact
Tap the bulb to light it up.
The Komodo dragon is the largest living lizard, and it lives wild only on a few Indonesian islands.
Hatchlings are only about 40 cm long and spend their early years in trees.
The monitor lizards often seen on Bali or Java beaches are a different species.
Komodo dragons have iron in their teeth. An iron-rich coating along the serrated cutting edges keeps them sharp and gives the edges an orange colour.
Source: Natural History Museum London, 2024, on LeBlanc et al., Nature Ecology & Evolution
A female Komodo dragon can produce young without a male. Genetic tests in 2006 confirmed this for two females at London and Chester zoos.
Source: Watts et al., 2006, Nature, Parthenogenesis in Komodo dragons
Komodo dragon in the Ocean Atlas
Places we have researched where this animal is recorded. It is never guaranteed, and some places are for watching from the boat only.
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Sources for this page
- Smithsonian, 2026
- IUCN Red List, 2021
- Jessop et al., 2006
- Fry et al., 2009
- San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance Library, Komodo dragon
- Komodo National Park (BTNK), visitor protocol, 2026
- Reptile Database, Varanus komodoensis
Facts checked 26 September 2026. Photos: Unsplash licence, or Creative Commons as shown on each photo.
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