Indonesia's Komodo Island hosts the world's largest lizards – Komodo dragons

On Komodo island, we visited the world's largest lizard species, the Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis), which grows up to 10 feet long and 150 pounds in the wild. Komodo dragons live on only six islands in southeastern Indonesia: Flores, plus five islands within Komodo National Park (Komodo, Rinca, Gili Montang, Gili Dasami, and Padar). On these rugged and hilly volcanic islands covered with forest and savanna grasslands, dragons hunt on the smallest home range of any large predator in the world. Their main natural prey is the Timor deer, plus they also eat snakes, dead fish along the shore, pigs, and water buffalo. Aside from a reliable water spring built for their survival, Park regulations forbid feeding the dragons. Dragon populations are currently stable but endangered by climate change, habitat loss, and deer poaching. Komodo dragons generally avoid encounters with humans—but as a precaution, Park guides carry 5-foot-long sticks with double prongs. Along the trail on Komodo island, we skirted around this 7-foot long female whose sunbathing in the middle of the trail was interrupted by our group of 20 people, so she roused slowly, tasted the air with frequent tongue flicks to catch our scent, then wandered away into the forest Komodo National Park is honored on UNESCO's World Heritage List. From Darwin in Northern Territory, we cruised from the Kimberley coast of Western Australia to Indonesia, aboard the Coral Geographer chartered by Wilderness Travel.

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Contained in galleries: Highlights 2023, INDONESIA gallery, 2023 Apr: AUSTRALIA + INDONESIA, Cruise Kimberley to Komodo + solar eclipse

On Komodo island, we visited the world's largest lizard species, the Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis), which grows up to 10 feet long and 150 pounds in the wild. Komodo dragons live on only six islands in southeastern Indonesia: Flores, plus five islands within Komodo National Park (Komodo, Rinca, Gili Montang, Gili Dasami, and Padar). On these rugged and hilly volcanic islands covered with forest and savanna grasslands, dragons hunt on the smallest home range of any large predator in the world. Their main natural prey is the Timor deer, plus they also eat snakes, dead fish along the shore, pigs, and water buffalo. Aside from a reliable water spring built for their survival, Park regulations forbid feeding the dragons. Dragon populations are currently stable but endangered by climate change, habitat loss, and deer poaching. Komodo dragons generally avoid encounters with humans—but as a precaution, Park guides carry 5-foot-long sticks with double prongs. Along the trail on Komodo island, we skirted around this 7-foot long female whose sunbathing in the middle of the trail was interrupted by our group of 20 people, so she roused slowly, tasted the air with frequent tongue flicks to catch our scent, then wandered away into the forest Komodo National Park is honored on UNESCO's World Heritage List. From Darwin in Northern Territory, we cruised from the Kimberley coast of Western Australia to Indonesia, aboard the Coral Geographer chartered by Wilderness Travel.