The lizards on neighboring Padar were wiped out in the 1980s when hunters killed their main prey, deer. All of the estimated 2,500 left in the wild can be found within the 700-square-mile (1,810-square-kilometer) Komodo National Park, mostly on its two largest islands, Komodo and Rinca. ![]() Komodos, which are popular at zoos in the United States to Europe, grow to be 10 feet (3 meters) long and 150 pounds (70 kilograms). "Luckily, my friends heard my screams and got me to hospital in time." I've spent half my life working with Komodos and have never seen anything like it," said Main, pointing to his jagged gashes, sewn up with 55 stitches and still swollen three months later. When the ranger tried to pry open the beast's powerful jaws, it locked its teeth into his hand. Main, a 46-year-old park ranger, was doing paperwork when a dragon slithered up the stairs of his wooden hut in Komodo National Park and went for his ankles dangling beneath the desk. But fear is swirling through the fishing villages, along with questions on how best to live with the dragons in the future. ![]() Komodo dragon attacks are still rare, experts note. The stories spread quickly across this smattering of tropical islands in southeastern Indonesia, the only place the endangered reptiles can still be found in the wild: Two people were killed since 2007 - a young boy and a fisherman - and others were badly wounded after being charged unprovoked.
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