A shared video has attracted the attention of the online community as the adult Komodo dragon calmly swallows a mountain goat to the horror of viewers.
The video begins with a Komodo dragon, as if smelling something, constantly searching the grass. Moments later, it discovered the carcass of an immature mountain goat, lying dead nearby.
It can be seen that the goat is not small in size. However, instead of biting the prey like in most cases, the Komodo dragon immediately rushed to “swallow” the poor animal in the same way a python would.
The head of the goat was suspended from the jaws of the bloodthirsty reptile, and the lower body was quickly crushed in the mouth of the predator. In about half a minute, the Komodo dragon, with its sharp crocodile-like teeth, swallowed its lunch.
The Komodo dragon (scientific name: Varanus komodoensis) is a large lizard commonly found on the islands of Indonesia. They are a member of the Varanidae family, and are the largest living lizards, with a maximum body length of 3m, and a weight of about 70kg.
Despite their large body, they run quite fast, can reach speeds of about 20km/h. In addition, they can also dive under water 5m deep, and climb trees like other lizards.
They are carnivores, with their preferred prey being invertebrates, birds, herbivores and even mammals. Scientific literature suggests that they have venom in the form of proteins, secreted from two glands in the lower jaw.
Not only that, even the Komodo dragon’s saliva contains up to 50 different types of bacteria. Just one bite of this dragon can make the prey poison and then die before being swallowed by the dragon.
Komodo dragons are voracious eaters, being able to eat up to 80% of its body weight in one meal. After eating, Komodo dragons often have to drag themselves to a sunny location to speed up digestion. The reason is because the food in their stomachs can rot and poison dragons if left for too long.
However, because of its voracious nature, combined with a narrow living environment, from a relatively large number of up to thousands of children, Komodo dragons are currently in danger of extinction.
