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One fair sex lately became the heroine of her own mod - Clarence Day poof tale , after she was bitten by a dragon and experience to assure the tale .
The charwoman , a zookeeper in Omaha , Nebraska , was sting on the hand by a juvenile Komodo dragon while care for the animal inside its John Milton Cage Jr. , according to news reports . Though she received quick medical attending and is expected to make a full recovery , the zookeeper ’s fib has raise some interesting doubtfulness about the world ’s largest livelihood coinage of lizard .
Here are three dragon - inspired queries , serve by expert who have study , care for and trained these incredible creatures . [ In pic : Top 10 Deadliest creature ]
Are captive Komodo firedrake dangerous to humans ?
The short result to this interrogation is yes and no , according to Kenneth Morgan , manager of reptiles at the Phoenix Zoo in Arizona , who has worked withKomodo dragonsin captivity for more than 20 years . Each of these huge lizards has its own disposition , Morgan evidence Live Science . In other words , some of the Komodo firedrake you see in zoological garden may be more strong-growing ( and , therefore , more unsafe ) than others . However , a Komodo dragon’spenchant for bite humans may have more to do with its age than its inclination , he enunciate .
" When these animals are youthful , they ’re naïve in terms of learn what ’s food and what ’s not food , " Morgan suppose , take down that puerile Komodo tartar are also more active foragers than their adult counterparts . In other words , they ’re more potential to go around sting things to see if they can exhaust them .
It seems that the juvenile dragon that seize with teeth the zookeeper in Omaha this calendar week belike mistook the woman for a snack , said Bryan Fry , an associate professor of biology at the University of Queensland in Australia . The incident was simply a " lawsuit of mistaken identity element , " Fry tell Live Science .
But Komododragonsare herculean predators , capable of taking down large prey , such as deer and wild boar . And while the wild Komodos of the Lesser Sunda Islands of Indonesia rarelyattack man , they have been known to do so . That ’s something that every zookeeper who shell out with these creature bear in mind . It ’s also something that each menagerie deals with differently , Morgan say , adding that some zoos allow keepers to enter Komodo flying lizard enclosures , while others do not .
Are Komodo dragons venomous ?
Yes , Komodo dragon are poisonous , Fry said . For decades , scientist thought these beast trust on bacteria to take down prey . The theory was that a Komodo would seize with teeth its quarry , transferring pernicious strands of bacteria from its saliva into the dupe ’s wound . Then , the flying dragon would look for the creature to weaken from infection ( which could take day ) before going in for the putting to death . [ Top 10 Beasts and Dragon : How realism Made Myth ]
But in 2009 , Fry and his colleagues discovered that Komodo dragons in reality have venom secreter turn up between their tooth . It ’s venom , not bacteria , that assist these animals take down everything from deer to water buffalo , Fry noted .
" The purpose of the spitefulness is to exaggerate the profligate red and shock - inducing mechanical harm make by the sharpness , " Fry tell . Komodos havelarge , serrated teeth(like a shark ’s ) that they use to grip quarry and rip open its pulp , he append .
The spitefulness these wight throw in into their prey with every mysterious bite contains toxins that result in anticoagulation ( the unfitness to stop phlebotomise ) and hypotension ( low rip press ) , Fry said . This could explain why news reports about the Omaha zookeeper mention that she needed emergency medical attention for a wound that would not stop bleed .
However , bacterium do represent a role in help gaga Komodos take down large prey , such aswater buffalo , which are not indigenous to the dragon ’s range of mountains and are much larger than other introduced mintage that the dragons have adopted as prey ( such as cervid and pig ) . When one or more Komodos go after a urine buffalo , their venomous bites are not enough to kill the large animal within minutes , Fry enounce . What usually happens is that the Old World buffalo seeks safety in stand body of water that happens to contain large amounts of fecal matter and , therefore , large amounts of bacterium .
" cryptical lesion in feces - laden water is a pure scenario for the flourishing of bacteria , particularly the nasty anaerobic types , " Fry enjoin . " Thus , the sampling of Komodo mouths that purported to show them [ harboring ] infective bacteria neglected to taste the real source of any infection to the urine buffalo : the feces - filled lachrymation hole the dragon late salute from . "
Are they just big , dumb lizard ?
No , Komodo dragons are n’t justovergrown reptileswith tiny brains , according to Morgan , who has work with a total of 10 grownup Komodos . He said these brute are actually quite intelligent .
Morgan tell Komodos respond well to " target education , " which is when a zookeeper train an animal to respond in a certain direction to different - colored props , or targets . For exercise , a chicken target might say an brute it ’s time to run through , and a red target could tell the animal to approach its custodian . This type of education allows zoo stave to safely boost brute such as Komodos to get some exercise , agree to the San Diego Zoo . It also helps acquaint them with dissimilar staff members , Morgan say . For lesson , the animate being learn to associate mealtime with a bleached object rather than the person render the food .
" I want to be careful not to be anthropomorphic , but I do imagine they ’re intelligent , " Morgan tell . " They have a turgid wit casing than other lizard , which can accommodate a larger brain sizing . They ’re up to of learn . Not all reptiles can aim train . "
