Could This Dragon Save Your Life?

Here’s a disgusting fact we couldn’t include in the article: Komodo dragons can consume up to 80% of their body weight in one meal! If they have to run away from danger while they’re full, they can throw up the entire contents of their stomachs to run away faster!

Check out this short video about Komodo dragons—your students will be fascinated to see these crazy creatures in action! Warning: This video contains images of animals being eaten by other animals. Please pre-screen it to make sure it won’t be upsetting to your students.

Author Anna Starecheski was lucky enough to talk with Monique Van Hoek and Barney Bishop, two scientists on the team that discovered the antibacterial qualities of dragon blood. One interesting fact they relayed to her: While wild Komodo dragons have gross, germ-filled mouths, captive dragons have far cleaner mouths. This is because they’re living in an environment with less bacteria than there is in the wild.

Where did Komodo dragons get their name? The answer is simple: They’re mostly found on the island of Komodo in Indonesia!

Komodo dragons have been around for millions of years, but Western scientists were not aware of them until just over 100 years ago! Since we’ve only known about them for such a short time, there’s a lot we’re still learning about these amazing creatures.