The Strip’s Nee Headliner

By Bobbie Katz

EXCLUSIVE TO VEGASINSIDETIPS

ADDITIONAL ARTICLES

With all the attractions that come and go in Las Vegas, it’s nice to know that there’s a new one in town that definitely has teeth.

And very sharp serrated ones at that.

That would be the Komodo Dragon, thank you very much. The city’s newest reptilian resident, which had its coming out celebration at Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay this past Friday, June 20, definitely has staying power at the hotel – it is so rare that there are very few left in the wild, found only on three of the half-dozen Komodo Islands in Indonesia. And visitors can go as it grows since the Komodo has the ability to reach 10 feet long or longer and weigh somewhere in the 125- to150-pound range, making it truly Las Vegas’  next BIG thing.

“This is a very dangerous reptile,” says Jack Jewell, General Curator of Shark Reef. “Its sheer size alone is daunting – right now it’s 10 years old, seven feet long and weighs 85 pounds and it’s going to get larger. This is also an extremely charismatic animal. You can’t imagine how powerful it is until you see it up close and personal. It truly has a powerful persona.”

Jewell notes that the Komodo Dragon is a highly endangered species that is protected by the U.S. Endangered Species Act and by Crites internationally. Shark Reef also belongs to AZA, which is part of the Komodo Species Survival Plan.

“The Komodo Dragon is incredibly unique,” Jewell relates. “It has a very powerful tail that can know you off your feet unconscious.  It can knock a relatively large animal down with its tail. It has powerful claws to grab prey with and powerful limbs and a muscular body. It has serrated razor-sharp teeth that, like shark’s teeth, can slash and tear its victim open. Plus, its saliva is filled with bacteria so even if its victim manages to escape its bite, it will die from infection.”

According to Jewell, Komodos, which are part of the monitor lizard nomenclature and members of the Varanid family, can sprint and charge 5-10 yards at speeds greater than humans can but they are not distance runners. They are late sleepers and spend a lot of time buried down where it’s shady and cool. They get up about mid-morning, having waited for the sun to come out, then they lay on a dark rock to absorb the sun and warm their core temperature. Once they warm their bodies up, they start cruising the game trails.

“They’re very, very big on deer,” Jewell explains. “Deer are a big, meaty, great meal. and have actually been introduced to the Komodo Islands – they are not native there. The Komodos also eat birds and snakes, eggs of any kind and other lizards, including their own kind – small Komodos. They stuff their faces but they many only eat once a month. Predators don’t have schedules – it’s about how big was the meal and how full did they get. They use a gorging-fasting technique. And they are not picky about what they eat– they’ll hide in the bushes then attack their prey with a sudden burst of speed.”

“After the Komodo eats, it takes cover, hiding to stay warm until its digestion works,’ he continues. “Since it eats its prey’s bones, too, it takes time to digest. One of the notable things about the Komodo, which is a cold-blooded animal, is that it is able to sustain its core temperature at a slightly higher level than normal, which is something common among successful predatory species. When its metabolic rate is up, it can move faster and it’s more alert and aware. That’s very much an advantage.”

Komodo Dragons can live 25-27 years and many grow their entire lives. They are egg-layers and can breed on a yearly basis, laying 12-14 eggs at a time. Since they don’t have a lot of predators, their eggs have a fairly good hatch-out rate. But many Komodos eat their own young, with the males being much more food-motivated than the females.

Insofar as care and handling of this animal in captivity, since Shark Reef is a predator-based aquarium, every resident it manages has the capacity to be dangerous. A lot of practice by a very well-trained team is paramount.

“The Komodo, in particular, needs an area to rest in cooler spots, a place where it can be warmer and an area in which it can hide,” Jewell reveals. “It has to have access to variable temperatures. There are actual minimum requirements that have to be met as far as space and we have exceeded those. We have provided hot rocks heated by water and cool zones. The Komodo is an excellent swimmer so it also needs an area where it can swim, drink and bathe and have access to UVB rays. We have an outdoor area that is not part of the exhibit where we can bring the Komodo out mid-morning to sunbathe for 35 minutes to an hour at least once a week if not more often.”

Just how does one go about moving this predator from one area to another?

“We spend as lot of time engaging in operant conditioning,” Jewell answers. “We know the behaviors we want so we target the animal to move on cue and reward it with food. If we need to move it out of the enclosure, we re-target it into an open transport container, close it, reward and satisfy the animal, then move it to a new location and target it out again.”

“Two things we can do while the animal is crated is weigh it and clip its nails,” he adds. “There are slots so that we can isolate different sections of the Komodo in the crate. That’s why we can take care of the nails and we can even get blood from the tail, in which there is a vein that can be accessed easily. Where its weight is concerned, we have to make some extrapolations. We use weight as a guideline – it the animal’s weight is normal, its growth is normal. We have to use small quantities of food frequently to reward the Komodo so we feed more frequently than it would eat in the wild.  We have to be careful not to let it get obese. But It allows us more access to him and controls. Plus, eating large meals when it is not in the wild places stress on the animal. Right now it’s feeding primarily on rodents and mice and occasionally on chicken cut up into parts – the latter is for conditioning.”

The Komodo also gets packaged food as well. Insofar as its feeding schedule, it might get four mice one day and two rats the next day. It receives different amounts and different food items over the course of a week. .

The animal at Shark Reef is a male and Jewell admits it was chosen because the males are larger and more impressive. He says that this Komodo will possibly be bred in the future and that they will follow the recommendations of the Komodo Species Survival Plan.

In the meantime, one is certainly enough to feast your eyes on.

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ADDITIONAL ARTICLES BY BOBBIE KATZ HERE