Never Mind: Komodo Dragon Hunt Called Off
Posted by: Loren Coleman on February 12th, 2008
Hoax? Failed hunt? Mistaken identity? An update from PNG appears to have a different point of view that the last report published.
Papua New Guinean authorities have called off a four-day “Komodo hunt”, believing reports of an escaped Komodo Dragon could be a hoax.
The lizard was reported on the loose in PNG’s second largest city, Lae, on PNG’s west coast, and was said to be terrorising locals after it escaped captivity last week.
But after extensive investigations authorities believe it could be a similar looking Salvadori Monitor, common to the Papuan region and not the endangered Indonesian reptile.
Police, administrators and locals began a search after sightings and media reports that the rare Komodo Dragon was destroying gardens and frightening villagers who had never seen such a creature.
Reports of sightings continued over the weekend and the Army and Department of Environment and Conservation were called to retrieve the giant lizard.
Reports and rumours escalated and soon there were two Komodos leaving giant footprints, the lizard had attacked and killed two dogs and the expatriate owner was offering 1000 kina ($400) for its return.
The Komodo Dragon, is found mainly on the Indonesian islands of Komodo, Rintja, Padar, and Flores.
The drama captured the imagination of one enterprising local who designed and sold T-shirts supporting the city’s new celebrity.
But Morobe Province Disaster and Emergency officer Roy Kamen told PNG’s Post Courier the search was called off because they had no new leads and the search was costing too much.
“This situation has spread fear and panic among the people,” he said.
“It may be a hoax … highly skilled soldiers have been in the bushes for four days but have not sighted the reptile,” he said.“Search for rampaging lizard called off,” From correspondents in Port Moresby, February 12, 2008.
About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct).
Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015.
Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.
Sounds prankish to me.
Soldiers in the bushes for 4 days? What are we really fighting there–Godzilla? I know komodo dragons are not our average lizard, but do we really have to call out the soldiers? Besides, everything is fine. It’s one from that region, so everything should be fine; even though it seems to be doing everything a komodo dragon would do. How is that safer?
If this wasn’t a prank, then like I figured it was one of the native species and it probably wandered back into the bush. By the way, as big as water or crocodile monitors get, they are not the easiest thing to spot in the brush. Most are very wary and blend in with their surroundings. Komodos are only relatively easy to spot because they are the apex predator on their islands, and they fear nothing, including humans. Only the juveniles hide. A few instances exist of humans being ambushed and bitten and/or eaten by Komodos.
Flores? The hobbits were up against komodo dragons!?
I agree with alligator
Any monitor can lay motionless for hours if it senses danger. They also have a tendency to disappear into holes very quicly and again not appear for a while . No matter what size they are not the easiest of animals to find, we often have to look for a problem animal for relocation and it can take days or weeks to find, if you are lucky and in the meantime small livestock carry on disappearing In the bush we may see them and then they freeze solid when they sense us and dont move for a long time, some just run off quietly at high speed and after that you dont find them or see them even if you went looking for it and could track it, they do a proverbial disappearing trick. Thier camouflage is fantastic and makes it very difficult to see them in any forrested area which would mainly be shaded. We have a few small African rock monitors living around the house which steal chicken eggs, chickens etc but all we find is evidence of them and now and then tracks, sightings are very few, some of them are 2 to 3 foot long (nose to tail tip) and its amazing how they disappear. Before anyone asks, we generally leave them in peace as the livestock loss is not very large, although some can become a big problem.
A komodo dragon who is at the top of the food chain and has not yet learned to fear man (if it can) or anything else would be an easy catch. A komodo dragon is opportunistic and sees everything as food and with its poisonous bacterial bite (which most lizard type reptiles have) is scared of little if anything. They also do not have the tendency that other monitors have in disappearing down holes, in water etc.
Most probably a local species that has been sighted by someone who knows nothing about thier local fauna but watches a lot of wildlife programmes on tv.
I forgot to add, test the animals that the lizard supposedly killed for a bacterial poison which is common and unique to all komodo dragon bites as the komodo dragon hunts by biting and then leaving the animal to die from poisoning and septecimia it then tracks them and feeds off the carcasses, it does not often kill and feed as most predators do and will often feed on carrion. The poisons take about 24 hrs plus to kill. All komodo dragons have extremely virulent bacteria in their mouths which poison the bitten animals. These bacteria are not found in any other species although some reptiles do have similar bacteria.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Komodo_dragon
This should sort out the mystery.