The sight of Komodo dragons fighting is one to behold.
The legendary Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis), is one of the largest lizards living on our planet today. This member of the monitor lizard family they have huge claws, sharp teeth, and a venomous bite. They can also grow to extremely large sizes over ten feet in length and weights well over 100 pounds.
Simply put, this is not a creature you want to mess around with. Especially once two male Komodo dragons decide to start fighting. The way the world's largest lizard gets up on its hind legs and starts pushing its opponent around makes for one of the coolest animal fights around.
Once you see one of these animal fights happen for the first time, you cannot help but think that this sort of brawl is what it must have looked like when two dinosaurs squared up millions of years ago.
These wild animals truly are one of the more unique critters to still be walking our planet. Komodo dragons first appeared on Earth nearly 40 million years ago, so they are survivors from a bygone era. It is believed that at one time they had a much wider range. These days they are isolated mostly to Southeast Asia, especially in Malaysia where they are found in the Galapagos Islands, Flores Island, Rinca Island, Gili Montang Island, and of course, Komodo Island.
The Indonesian Island of Sundra is home to Komodo National Park, which since the rise of BBC Earth and National Geographic documentaries on the dragons in their natural habitat, has become much more popular with tourists hoping to see one of the world's deadliest lizards in the wild.
Komodo dragon fights happen during the mating season when the males fight over the females. As you saw here, the fight ends when one of the males pins the other to the ground. If you ever get the chance to travel and see these lizards in the wild, keep your distance. Komodo dragon attacks are rare, but they have happened. We recommend a good camera to observe a brawl like this from a safe distance!
For more outdoor content from Travis Smola, be sure to follow him on Twitter and check out his Geocaching and Outdoors with Travis YouTube channels.
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