EAST NUSA TENGGARA, INDONESIA — A Komodo dragon, the world’s largest species of lizard, attacked and badly injured a tourist on a visit to Komodo National Park in eastern Indonesia on May 3.
The victim has been identified as 50-year-old Lon Lee Alle from Singapore. And here’s what happened.
To save money, Alle had been staying with locals in an area off-limits to tourists, and planned to watch the villagers feed a group of dragons.
The animals are capable of surprising bursts of speed and villagers say they warned Mr. Alle and not to get too close as the things don’t like to be disturbed while feeding. But Alle needed to get that perfect shot, and so he approached.
For one of them, t it was just a little too close. It charged at the fool, seizing his left leg before he could get away. Villagers rushed in to prevent it from killing him.
Alle received emergency treatment at the nearest medical clinic. A military speed boat was then summoned to rush him to a proper hospital on Flores island.
The Komodo dragon’s bite is awful. It’s bite isn’t particularly strong, but it tears the and in 2013, Australian researchers discovered the Komodo jaw contains glands which excrete several kinds of venom that induce shock and prevent blood clotting
It’s this, and not bacteria in its saliva that poses the real threat.
The head of the national park told the Jakarta Post that this is the first Komodo attack on a human in five years.
He also suggested that the tourist really ought to have not been such a cheapskate, and sprung for an official guide, like sensible tourists do.
So, in case you needed more reminding, keep your guard up around giant, venomous lizards in the wild.
